Here's how we empower struggling small towns to turn ideas into reality

I remember a specific discussion from a northern Minnesota community Facebook page a couple of years ago. People were speculating on a new building under construction along the town's main highway. Would it be a Kwik Trip? A Chick-fil-A? Dare we dream of a Bass Pro Shop? A city councilor jumped on to tell everyone it was a new eye doctor. Goodness, the people were angry. Incensed! We already have an eye doctor. What kind of economic development is this? I empathize with local leaders across rural Minnesota. You can seemingly do no right. Development professionals face enormous pressure to 'save' places fighting against the decline of school enrollments, retail sectors and historic buildings. And yet, the demand for improvement is so great that it taxes the patience of citizens who can't see all the moving parts. That's why there's tremendous value in an unsung University of Minnesota program connecting community leaders and citizens to planning resources, grant funding and research experience. The Empowering Small Minnesota Communities Program began in 2023, managed by the U's Center for Transportation Studies. Focused on communities with less than 15,000 in population, the program seeks to boost the planning and development capabilities of small towns. 'Smaller communities have far more limited capacity, not because of the lack of curiosity or skill or expertise, but simply from a lack of bandwidth and funding,' said Kyle Shelton, director of the Center for Transportation Studies. The program seeks to solve problems for communities that may not yet qualify for existing state and federal grants. University staff help determine what the community wants and establish ways to accomplish the goal. Rep. Erin Koegel, DFL-Spring Lake Park, authored the program's 2025 re-authorization and renaming. She explains the program this way. When an intersection in a small town needs repair, the town might feel pressure to replace it in the same way 'because that's what we've always done.' This program helps them imagine something that might work better. 'This gives people an outlet to think about how they can redevelop or change their community to meet their needs and then uses the capacity and the expertise at the University of Minnesota to help bring those plans into a vision and then and get them ready to compete for funding,' said Koegel. One of the first communities to use the program was Crookston, a northwestern Minnesota city of about 7,400 people and home to a University of Minnesota campus. City and business leaders had long discussed ways to make downtown Crookston more of a plaza than just a place people drive through. But the scope of such an idea was overwhelming. 'I'm not a designer, I am not a landscape planner, but we know we have a vision,' said Taylor Wyum, community development director for the city of Crookston. Starting in 2024, the town developed a multistage plan. They created new trail maps to attract more users and prepared for the coming of emerald ash borer by designing a new tree canopy along city streets. And they finally began the process of planning downtown improvements that are now moving toward reality. One of the critical aspects of the program is that it begins not with an idea from an elected official or economic development staff, but with gatherings that gauge the goals of the community itself. Already the program has helped Lindström, Minn., develop a plan to prevent flooding in its beach park. U researchers informed planning for more trails in the Driftless region and housing options for rural townships in Lake County. 'Small communities have a lot going for them,' said Shelton. They have a lot of people power, a lot of history and a lot of expertise on a huge number of things that they've been working through for years.' Koegel said that local buy-in makes it easier to advance any ideas that result from the planning. 'When you have people who have had a hand in developing it ... they're willing to step up to the plate and say, this is a valuable thing,' said Koegel. 'So, you'll have more people talking to their legislators. You'll have people talking to community members. And that's how things should work, how the Legislature should work.' The Legislature funded the Empowering Small Minnesota Communities Program these past four years with bipartisan support, but lawmakers have been cautious about funding it long term. The program is funded through this fiscal year, but the new Legislature and governor would have to renew it during the next legislative session. They should. This approach is an efficient way to improve the quality of life in Minnesota's cash-strapped and often overlooked small towns. It directly addresses local problems and fosters the hopes and dreams of citizens in a way that is accountable and attainable. It also solves a wider problem that afflicts communities everywhere. People in isolation foster distrust and resentment. Coming together promotes the sense of belonging we all seek. 'People are looking for that local connection,' said Koegel. 'People [see] so much nastiness at the state and federal level. ... This gives local communities a way to build capacity, engage their residents to buy into the future of their own community.' An angry and divided small town is vulnerable. A united one is practically indestructible. The outcome of coming local and state elections matters, but not as much as the collaborative work we must do after the elections are done. That goes for all of us, not just the people on the ballot.