Minnesota governor looking to fix water infrastructure in rural communities
Minnesota governor looking to fix water infrastructure in rural communitiesA new law requiring farmers to separate cropland from water is creating a financial conundrum for rural areas in Minnesota. State Governor Mark Dayton is proposing the state borrow nearly $220 million to improve the state’s water. This can potentially save rural taxpayers a significant amount of money, but the proposal faces hurdles in the state legislature.
Rural life a draw for businesses looking to relocate
Despite logistical challenges of not being near a major interstate, Abbeville County in South Carolina has been able to attract new businesses to the rural area. Business leaders are citing the rural lifestyle and sense of community as reasons for their decisions to move there. Additionally, an entrepreneurial program has been organized that is helping to build agribusiness ventures and new business recruitment is ongoing.
Small-town grocers exploring how to work together
North Dakota grocers recently met in Mandan to look at ways they might work together. The meeting was facilitated by the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives’ Rural Electric and Telecommunications Development Center. The center gathered data and hopes that “by aggregating information… grocers could partner to attract a more affordable supply of groceries and make distribution more efficient.”