MRP Press Release

March 1, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

McLaughlin Resigns from Minnesota Rural Partners; Leonard Appointed President

Redwood Falls, Minnesota March 1, 2004 -

Minnesota Rural Partners, Inc. (MRP) has appointed Jane Leonard as its new president, succeeding founding executive director Marcie McLaughlin, who resigned from the partnership effective March 1. McLaughlin has accepted the position as Director of National Policy Programs with the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) in the Truman School of Public Affairs at the University of Missouri. She will be establishing her office in Washington, DC.

"Marcie McLaughlin has given strong and creative leadership to Minnesota Rural Partners (MRP) during the past nine years," said Madonna Peltier Yawakie, MRP's Board Chair. "She has guided MRP through its development from a managed network of federal, state, local, tribal, private, non-profit and education sector representatives to its current organizational non-profit status, always continuing to build and support rural Minnesota. We are pleased that our board and our partners will continue to work with Marcie in her new position. Her work with RUPRI will provide a vital connection for Minnesotans to national and international rural policy development and implementation."

McLaughlin recently received a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. She is a trustee of the Blandin Foundation, a board member of the Northern Great Plains, Inc. and a former Renville County Commissioner.

Minnesota Rural Partners is the federally designated state rural development council, one of 37 councils nationwide. It is a self-supporting non-profit organization best known for managing and co-hosting the annual Rural Summit with up to 40 partner groups each year. The seventh annual Summit will be held in Hibbing on August 18-20, 2004. MRP has also been instrumental in establishing other coalitions, such as the Minnesota Rural Health Association (MRHA), Agri-foresty Initiative, Rural/Urban Dialogues and Rural Entrepreneurial Academy. A result of the work of the Academy was the creation of the Virtual Entrepreneurial Network, a resources matching, business development acceleration tool, and community entrepreneurial support service (www.bizpathways.org). Most recently, MRP has developed and implemented a broadband market development program for towns of 2500 and under population.

Jane Leonard has been active with Minnesota Rural Partners since its inception, first as a board member representing the state sector, then private sector, and as chair. She served as interim director of MRP from August 2002- August 2003. Jane has managed the Virtual Entrepreneurial Network project for MRP since 2001. She is a member of the Minnesota Board of Teaching, former president of the international Community Development Society, and co-owner of Community Technology Advisors Corp. Jane has a B.S in agriculture and journalism from the University of Maryland and a master's degree in communications from the University of Minnesota.

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