Rural communities and regions want to attract people and businesses to ensure a bright local future. This panel will highlight the efforts, successes and challenges of three rural regions in creating an environment that is attractive and supportive to new and existing residents and businesses alike.

• Kirk Bustrom, Upper MN Valley Regional Development Commission
• Cheryal Hills, Region 5 Development Commission

Notes: Cheryal Hills

–          How do we retain talent once it comes to our region?

–          Branding your community

–          Connected low income farmers with food cooperatives, and also their ‘Mobile Market’

–          Technology necessary for adequate education, which is a priority for families thinking of moving

–          Accessible and multilingual tech applications to demonstrate cultural values and attract a larger pool of people

Kirk Bustrom

–          Supported 3 counties that were participating in the Border to Border Broadband initiative

–          Tourism as a workforce attraction strategy

–          Used mobile devices that were connected to ArcGIS to analyze housing stock in order to access state funding

Bill Coleman

–          Flip from trying to attract companies to trying to attract people

–          A Blandin Broadband Community used program funding to train 20 welders