The RUPRI Center for Regional Competitiveness has been working with nearly 20 organizational partners in Southern and Southwestern Minnesota to develop an integrated strategy for regional growth. A centerpiece of the project has been in-depth discussions throughout the 38-county region. The regional dialogue in recent months has included ten local roundtables, three regional roundtables and a Futures Summit last Friday, engaging nearly 1,200 local and state leaders, including 250 who attended last Friday's Summit. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, Congressman Tim Walz, Governor Tim Pawlenty, Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher and a dozen Minnesota Senate and House members participated. Those in attendance used hand-held voting devices to record their opinions and preferences on potential regional actions to craft a more vibrant economic future for communities in southern Minnesota.
The Southern Minnesota Regional Competitiveness Project is a groundbreaking effort to assess regional economic assets, identify competitive advantages based upon them, and prioritize investments in a regional strategy. Summit participants looked closely at the full range of economic development options considered over the past six months, and identified their preferences to grow the region's economy, including agriculture and food, health care, manufacturing, high technology, bio-business and renewable energy.
Between now and May 15th, when the region will roll out its economic road map for the future, regional organizations will focus on these strategic opportunities, refine approaches, and target specific steps for coordinated action by the public, private, and philanthropic sectors.
"Despite the current recession, which will have unique rural ramifications, there will also be unprecedented opportunities available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Southern Minnesota Region will be significantly advantaged as a result of the strategic opportunities this project will target and the actions to be taken to seize them," said Mark Drabenstott, Director of RUPRI Center for Regional Competitiveness. "There is no better time than now for this region to focus its investment priorities and work in concert with policymakers in St. Paul and Washington, D.C., to leverage scarce public funds with those of private and philanthropic partners." This Southern Minnesota initiative is very similar in design to the Rural Collaborative Investment Program (RCIP), authorized in the Rural Development Title of the 2008 Farm Bill, although Congress has not yet appropriated funds to initiate the program.
A media report on the Summit can be found at:
