The Sherburne County Community Partners organization held a meeting last Wednesday at The Brickyard in Clear Lake to hear presentations on a variety of topics including population gain and economic development in rural areas.
The program opened with a presentation titled “Brain Gain” by Den Winchester of the University of Minnesota Extension Office. Winchester told the group he had studied the development and growth and/or decline as a student at the University of Minnesota-Morris, and later as a graduate student in Missouri. He outlined the growth of “regional centers’ outside of major metropolitan areas, and the “rural rebound” that has seen non-urban areas grow by 11% each year since the early 1970’s. Media attention that remains focused on metro issues feeds the presumption that only cities are growing, Winchester said. Cities may grow faster than rural areas, he said, but both populations are steadily increasing.
Winchester said the concept of a “brain drain” from rural areas because of the lack of young people electing to remain in small towns is misleading, since the 17-19 year old demographic is only recently graduated from high school and does not yet have much business or academic experience beyond that level. Rather, he focused on the rural “brain gain” with older 30-50 year old citizens seeking a quieter life away from the cities, with greater safety and security for families in small towns and lower housing costs. A job is not the prime reason for a move in this demographic group, Winchester said.
Recruitment and retention of this group is a challenge small rural areas will face in the future, as more and more families are moving more often than ever before, Winchester said.
WorkForce Coordinator Tim Zipoy from Central Minnesota Jobs and Training Services also addressed the group regarding employment strategies. Information he provided noted that Sherburne County has an unemployment rate of 3.3 per cent, with 49,196 people in the labor force. The information packet also listed occupations that are now in demand here, which include food preparation and serving positions, registered nurses, stock clerks and order fillers, cashiers and construction laborers.
Zipoy told the group there are almost 50 WorkForce Centers around Minnesota, including sites in Monticello and St. Cloud and partnering with a number of state and federal entities including the MN Dept. of Employment, Veterans Services and adult basic education.
Mark Osendorf from Xcel Energy discussed the recent announcement by the company in regard to closing some of the units in the Sherco plant and conversion to natural gas from the current coal system. New Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge Manager Steve Karel also addressed the group, providing some personal history and describing current operations at the Refuge, including the construction of a new building on the site which was financed almost entirely by the Friends of the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge organization.
Nearly 30 people were on hand for the afternoon meeting, including Sherburne County commissioners John Riebel, Felix Schmiesing, Ewald Petersen, Bruce Anderson and Rachel Leonard, Becker Administrator Greg Pruszinske, Laura Hayes, Big Lke Township, Doug Matthews, Livonia Township, Mike Brubaker, Sherburne History Center, Lynette Brannan, Becker Chamber of Commerce, Claudia Page, Clear Lake City Council, Jolene Foss, Princeton, Debbie Rydberg, Elk River Chamber of Commerce, Mary Bauer, Central Minnesota Council on Aging, along with several others who came and went during the presentations.
