Center of Everywhere Podcast

What actually keeps young people connected to rural Minnesota after high school? In this episode, CRPD President and CEO Julie Tesch joins Marnie Werner the day after the first stop of the Pathways After High School research roadshow in Fergus Falls. The research follows roughly 400,000 Minnesota high school graduates for up to 15 years...The post Season 7, Episode 3: Pathways After High School...

New research is being published by the Center for Rural Policy and Development that examines the school and workforce trajectories of rural high school graduates across Minnesota. Marnie Werner, Vice President of Research & Operations, sits down with Senior Researcher Kelly Asche to discuss the research.The post Season 7, Episode 2: Pathways After High School first appeared on Center for...

Rural communities across the state are facing a physician shortage that’s only getting more urgent — the average rural doctor is nearing retirement age, and many are planning to leave the profession sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, small towns are watching hospitals cut services, close OB units, and struggle to recruit anyone to replace a...The post Season 7, Episode 1: U of MN New Rural...

What does it actually take for a community to say yes — or no — to a data center? Marnie Werner, VP of Research and Operations, sits down with Elise Harrington, Assistant Professor at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and Al Roder, City Administrator for Byron, Minnesota, to cut through the noise. Together, they...The post Season 6, Episode 2: A Grounded Conversation About Data Centers first...

Kelly Asche, Senior Researcher at the Center for Rural Policy and Development, sits down with Luke Greiner, Labor Analyst with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). Together, they unpack the current state of the rural economy, the challenges posed by limited data availability, and new research exploring how aware rural high school...The post Season 6, Episode 1:...

On this episode, Kelly Asche, Senior Researcher, interviews Ava Weber, a recent graduate of the U of MN Morris and her research exploring how immigration impacts funding for school districts through the state funding formula. She provides highlights from her data analysis, as well as highlights from interviews she had with superintendents in rural school...The post Season 5, Episode 11: Ave Weber...

On this episode, Julie Tesch, President and CEO of the Center for Rural Policy and Development, speaks with 3x Emmy-winning Documentarian and TV Anchor Cory Hepola. They discuss his journey from growing up in Perham, Minnesota and always being drawn back to small towns in his work and life. Cory currently produces the My Town...The post Season 5, Episode 10: My Town Series with Cory Hepola first...

In this episode, Kelly Asche, Senior Researcher at the Center, interviews Erik Osberg, Rural Rebound Coordinator for Otter Tail County. They discuss how Otter Tail County created the Rural Rebound initiative, the research framework backing their initiative, and some tips for other rural regions wanting to develop a similar initiative.The post Season 5, Episode 9: Resident Recruitment in Otter...

In this episode, Kelly Asche, Senior Researcher at the Center, interviews Kari Thurlow, President and CEO of LeadingAge MN, and Tracy Hendrickx, the Vice President of Long Term Care at Perham Health. They discuss not only some of the challenges facing elder care providers in rural Minnesota, but also promising initiatives and programs being supported...The post Season 5, Episode 8: Current...

On this episode, Marnie Werner, Vice President of Research and Operations at CRPD, speaks with Dr. Tracie Rutherford Self, Faculty at MSU, Mankato’s Center for Rural Behavioral Health and Dr. Darcie Davis-Gage – Director of MSU Mankato’s Center for Rural Behavioral Health. The conversation talks about the new clinic that just opened within the Center...The post Season 5, Episode 7: New clinic and...