>> JOBS, THE NUMBER ONE CONCERN FOR LEADERS IN SMALL TOWN MINNESOTA ACCORDING TO A SURVEY RELEASED EARLIER THIS WEEK BY THE BLANDIN CORPORATION.

KEEPING JOBS, CREATING JOBS, ATTRACTING NEW BUSINESSES WITH JOBS.

THESE WERE CONCERNS IDENTIFIED AS CRUCIAL, CRITICAL, BY NEARLY 1700 GRADUATES OF A LEADERSHIP PROGRAM RUN BY THE FOUNDATION.

JOINING US TO TALK ABOUT THE FINDINGS AND MORE, JIM CREEL WHO WORKS WITH COMMUNITY LEADERS IN THE BLANDIN FOUNDATION LEADERSHIP COMES.

WERE YOU SURPRISED BY THIS -- I DON'T SAY UNANIMOUS VERDICT BUT A PRETTY FOCUSED CONSENSUS VIEW, RIGHT?

>> YES AND NO IN TERMS OF BEING SURPRISED.

ECONOMIC ISSUES HAVE BEEN PART OF REAL LIFE FOR A LONG TIME.

I THINK THE SURPRISING PIECE OF IT WAS, AS YOU POINTED OUT, FIRST OF ALL THE CONSENSUS ABOUT IT AND THE OTHER PIECE I THINK THAT WAS SURPRISING IS THAT WE'RE TALKING TO COMMUNITY LEADERS, TALKING TO FOLKS WHO GET UP IN THE MORNINGS AND GO TO THE EARLY MORNING MEETINGS AND STAY UP LATE AT NIGHT WORRYING ABOUT WHAT MANS TO THE FUTURE OF THE COMMUNITY AND THEY NOT ONLY SAID THIS IS THE CRITICAL ISSUE, THE CRUCIAL ISSUE, WE ALSO ASKED THEM, AS A COMMUNITY LEADER, IF YOU COULD FOCUS ON ONE ISSUE, WHAT WOULD IT BE, AND THE OVERWHELMING CONSENSUS WAS, IF HE HAD TO WORK ON ONLY ONE ISSUE, IT WOULD BE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

SO I THINK WHAT WE'RE SEEING IS, AMONG RURAL LEADERS, AT LEAST, AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL, STARTING TO RECOGNIZE THAT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, IF YOU WILL, OR THE BUSINESS OF THE COMMUNITY IS EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS.

IT'S NOT JUST ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, IT'S NOT JUST THE MAYOR, IT'S NOT THE FOLKS WHO OWN BUSINESSES DOWNTOWN, IT'S EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS TO TRY AND CREATE A HEALTHY LOCAL ECONOMY.

>> >> Cathy: AND A PRIORITY FOR THESE COMMUNITY LEADERS.

DO THEY HAVE ANY IDEAS AS TO HOW TO INCREASE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AT ALL?

>> I THINK, THAT'S ALWAYS A BIG STRUGGLE.

I THINK THE KINDS OF THINGS I HEAR THEM TALKING ABOUT, ONE IS STARTING TO RECOGNIZE ASSETS THAT THEY HAVE, RATHER THAN LOOKING AT DEFICITS, INSTEAD OF WORRYING ABOUT IF THE GLASS IS HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY, THEY'RE SAYING THIS IS WHAT WE'VE GOT IN THE GLASS, HOW DO WE MAKE THE MOST OF IT?

I THINK THE OTHER PIECE WE'RE STARTING TO SEE IS GREATER SENSE OF AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO THINGS REGIONALLY AND MULTI-COMMUNITY-WISE.

THERE IS A LITTLE GROUP IN BROWN COUNTY, FOR EXAMPLE, CALLED BRIDGING BROWN COUNTY, TAKING THE LITTLE COMMUNITIES ALONG HIGHWAY 15 AND SAYING WHAT CAN WE DO TOGETHER?

THE FOUNDATIONS IN THIS STATE PARTICULARLY THROUGH THE BLANDIN FOUNDATION AND THE McKNIGHT FOUNDATION HAVE WHAT THEY CALL THE RED GROUP, REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, WORKING WITH MATT KRAMER OVER AT D-TED AND I THINK WE'RE SEEING MORE AND MORE OF THAT KIND OF REGIONAL APPROACH TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

>> THE JOBZ PROGRAM WHERE YOU GET LAND THAT -- WHERE SOME JOBS CAN BE BROUGHT IN, MASSIVE TAX ADVANTAGES, IS THAT PROMOTING SOME COOPERATION, TOO, REGIONAL SOILS AROUND THOSE OR IS EVERYBODY LOOKING FOR THEIR OWN INDIVIDUAL SLICE OF THAT PIE?

>> UNFORTUNATELY PROBABLY MORE THE LATTER THAN THE FORMER.

IT'S -- IN JOBZ, IT'S RELATIVELY NEW IN RURAL COMMUNITIES, BUT I THINK AT THE OUTSET, IT WAS MORE AROUND COMPETITION THAN COOPERATION.

>> Cathy: THE SURVEY ALSO FOUND THAT COMMUNITY LEADERS ARE NOT -- THEY SEEM TO BE WORRIED ABOUT SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION.

>> AND OF COURSE THAT'S ALSO PART OF THE ECONOMIC FUTURE.

WITHOUT A TRAINED LABOR FORCE, IT'S A BIG ISSUE AND THE OTHER THING THAT HAPPENS IN RURAL COMMUNITIES, THE SCHOOL IS ALSO USUALLY ONE OF THE LARGEST EMPLOYERS, AND IT'S ALSO THE SOCIAL CENTER, SO IT'S A MULTI-PURPOSE KIND OF THING, SO YOU HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THE EDUCATION OF THEIR KIDS, AS ALL MINNESOTANS DO, BUT IN A SMALL COMMUNITY, THE IMPACT OF THE SCHOOL HAS A LOT TO DO WITH THE ECONOMICS.

>> Eric: AND WHAT HAPPENS TO THIS WORK PRODUCT, WHO WILL SEE IT AND WHAT DO YOU HOPE HAPPENS WITH IT?

>> WELL, WE HAD SEVERAL PURPOSES IN MINDS.

ONE, QUITE FRANKLY, OUR MISSION IS TO STRENGTHEN RURAL COMMUNITIES IN MINNESOTA.

WE WANTED TO GIVE RURAL VOICE, IF YOU WILL, TO THE BUILDING OF THE AGENDA IN MINNESOTA AND THANKS TO OPPORTUNITIES LIKE THIS, WE WERE ABLE TO DO IT.

IT'S ALSO GOING TO DRIVE SOME OF OUR OWN DEVELOPMENT WORK AS A FOUNDATION AND THIRDLY, WE HOPE TO KEEP DOING THIS ON A REGULAR BASIS AND USE THIS AS A BENCHMARK TO TRACK CHANGE IN RURAL MINNESOTA.

>> Cathy: THEY HAD SOME CONCERNS BUT THEY GENERALLY LIKE THEIR TOWN, THAT'S POSITIVE.

>> IT'S VERY POSITIVE AND BASICALLY THESE ARE FOLKS WHO CHOSE TO LIVE THERE, THEY'RE GOING TO STAY THERE.

IN FACT, THEY LIKE SOME OF US TO STAY AROUND AND IF YOU HAVE ANYBODY WHO WANTS TO MOVE TO