Like many EDDs, the Upper Minnesota Valley Regional Development Commission (UMVRDC) has been grappling with the regional impacts of population loss. According to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, the UMVRDC region experienced a workforce participation reduction of 2.9% during the pandemic. This is on top of an 8.4% reduction that occurred from 2009-2019. The region has been hit hard by a trend across the country in the last decade that led to rural America’s first population decline in its history. From 2010 to 2020 rural America saw a population decline of 289,000 residents compared to a population growth of 1.5 million residents from 2000-2010. This population loss is related to several factors. Immigration and birth rates were down leading to a lower replacement rate. Birth rates dropped to their lowest level since 1979. The migration rate out of rural areas into metropolitan areas has also remained high while death rates rose. All of these factors combined to create the population reduction. When spread across the entire country this loss is small, but it can have a massive impact on individual communities. UMVRDC saw a population decline of 3% from 2010-2020 and is expected to lose another 5.6% of residents in the next decade.

This challenge led UMVRDC to establish a goal in its Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) of limiting regional population loss to 1.5%. Every two years UMRVDC releases The Western Minnesota Prairie Waters Regional Relocation Guide to assist in meeting this goal. Western Minnesota Prairie Waters is a regional tourism effort run through a collaboration between Chippewa, Lac qui Parle, Yellow Medicine, and Swift counties with the guidance of the UMVRDC Economic Development District. This initiative works to attract people to the Prairie Waters region both as tourists and as permanent residents.  Melissa Streich, Communications Coordinator for UMVRDC, says the collaborative work of the Prairie Waters initiative “is all about relationship building and not about competing. We can do stuff the counties can’t, and they can do stuff we can’t. Don’t double dip. Unite rather than compete.” Due to the relative size of the communities in this area, a regional effort is required to fund and produce the guide. “This organization has always been a regional effort. Our communities are too small to be able to support themselves.  Therefore we need to collectively work together,” says Streich.

In previous years this guide focused on tourism but in order to counter population loss, the guide has been refocused to encourage relocation to the area. It highlights the communities that make up the region and outlines key issues that transplants might want more information about when considering a move, such as education, healthcare, and employment opportunities. This provides a rich picture of a thriving region to both attract new residents and maintain existing residents. The guide was created with participation and input from key stakeholders such as county commissioners, city administrators, chambers of commerce, and local businesses. The cost of producing the guide ranges from $15,000-$45,000 depending on the size of the printing, materials used, and the number of pages in the guide. Costs are covered by the ads placed in it. Initially ads were placed primarily by businesses focused on tourism, but with the pivot of the guide the ads are now primarily from local employers that want to support this effort and benefit from the popularity of the guide.

The content and photos that go into the guide are produced internally by UMVRDC staff and an outside consultant is contracted for the design of the final product. The guide is distributed via completion of an online form and in printed booklets. The booklets are placed in locations that are frequented by tourists like the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. The guides have proved very popular with distribution locations consistently asking to be restocked.  As population trends continue to shift, collaborative strategies embraced by UMVRDC and its partners will be key to maintaining a strong region and workforce.  The Visitor and Relocation Guide serves as a small, yet important, piece of a larger regional effort to address population loss and position the area for success for years to come.  

Key Takeaways

• Embrace Public Private Partnerships  –  When creating the relocation guide UMVRDC works closely with county and municipal governments as well as local businesses. These partnerships have helped to finance the ads that cover the cost of production and also provide the content that is needed for the various sections of the guide.
• Highlight Regional Issues and Infrastructure –  Because MVRDC intends this guide to be used to attract people to move to the region, it has been important to not only promote the cultural and natural attractions found in the Prairie Waters region, but also feature information about employment, education, and healthcare options and amenities. The guide also highlights the region’s broadband coverage and transportation infrastructure.
• Leverage Regional Leadership and Collaboration –  This relocation guide is a production of the Western Minnesota Prairie Waters tourism initiative under the leadership of UMVRDC. The leadership of UMVRDC allows the counties and municipalities of the region to combine rather than duplicate efforts. EDDs are in a unique position as regional leaders to both fill the gaps between municipalities as well as consolidate the resources of a region into a single initiative. These combined efforts multiply the efforts of all involved allowing the whole to become more than the sum of its parts.

Resources:

• The Western Minnesota Prairie Waters Regional Relocation Guide
• Western Minnesota Prairie Waters
• UMVRDC Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS)