The Hidden Workforce
With a regional unemployment rate hovering around 2%, one of the greatest struggles faced by area businesses has been the
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Special Reports
Sleepy Eye’s Business Sector Is Far From Sleepy
Sleepy Eye Coffee Company and Sleepy Eye Brewing Company are both located in the newly restored PIX Theater building with
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Helping Make Dreams A Reality
Celestial Backers, a.k.a. Angel Investors, Growing as a Resource in our Area Finding financing can be one of the biggest
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Nominate Today!
Most of us love supporting a small business, especially when it’s owned by family, friends or people we know. Now,
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Feature Collaboration Connection
Left to right: Ellen Koenigs, Y Barbers; Lisa Phillips, Blue Skye Mercantile; Jeni Bobholz, Circle Inn; Julie Sabin, Rooftop Bar
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Local Hemp Farmers Take the Lead
Matt Little has some definite plans for an uncertain industry. Along with partners Garth Carson, an entrepreneur and business owner, and Mike Drummer of Mankato, Little is creating a vertically integrated hemp business that strives to, as he puts it, “take our crop from seed to soil to products.” But with an industry that is fighting 80 years of a marijuana hangover, of sorts, they’re literally starting from the ground up. “Right now, if anybody tells you they have it figured out, they’re lying,” Little says.
Read MoreWorkforce Shortage Looms Large
New Ulm-based Big Ideas Hopes to Bridge the Gap The Big Ideas initiative in New Ulm actually started as a
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Truman’s China House Cafe is a New Model for Collaborative Economic Development
The local café has been a staple of the small town landscape as far back as anyone can remember. But with all of the challenges facing small town rural America, keeping these institutions operating or finding people willing and able to invest in these businesses is becoming more and more difficult.
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Taking Care of Business, To Take Care of People
The Greater St. Peter area receives an injection of $46 million dollars that will expand not only the hospital there, but the local economy as well. “Solid infrastructure and modern healthcare facilities play a key role in the economic sustainability of rural communities – attracting new businesses, retaining population and providing opportunities for future growth,” says Brad Finstad, State Director for USDA Rural Development.
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