Minnesota Daily recently posted an article on food deserts in Minnesota. It sounds like the longevity of locally owned rural grocery stores is in question…

A recent University of Minnesota study reveals that 62 percent of rural grocers intend to own their stores for 10 more years or less and that more than 70 percent of them have no plan to appoint a successor once they quit. Naturally, this raises concerns about how to guarantee rural residents’ access to healthy food.

They offer broadband as a support to help businesses…

In order to benefit rural business owners, we encourage the Minnesota government to expand rural broadband and update the state’s transportation infrastructure. These measures align with budget proposals from Gov. Mark Dayton, who proposed spending more than two-thirds of the state’s $900 million budget surplus last week.

Dayton’s proposed $100 million rural broadband expansion could help connect rural grocers with potential customers, while better roadways could lower grocers’ delivery costs.