Creating a Welcoming Community in Austin

Twenty years ago, Austin Minnesota was the “typical,” out-state community, according to its former mayor Bonnie Rietz, 1988 BCLP alum and Blandin Foundation Trustee. Cultural differences were the concern of people living in the metropolitan area  ¬ Austin was largely Caucasian and definitely not diverse.  Then, all that changed.

Hormel, which has a meat packing facility in Austin as well as other suppliers for Hormel, such as Quality Pork Processors, were attracting a new kind of worker, a more culturally diverse worker.  Many of Austin’s new residents were Hispanic, Sudanese and Vietnamese.  Many had limited English proficiency.

Advisory Committee provides pulse on American Indian leadership issues:

The Blandin Foundation Leadership Team is working in partnership with American Indian reservation communities developing programming, identifying potential partnering opportunities and growing leadership skills.

The vehicle for the Foundation to explore leadership opportunities in American Indian communities is known as Blandin Reservation Community Leadership Program Advisory Committee.

Assessing Infrastructure: Moving Communities Forward

Imagine you are charged with attracting new economic development to your community (as a community leader, perhaps that really is your job).

Could you ensure a business that might be interested in locating or relocating to your town that there was adequate access to water and sewer and high speed Internet?  What about your roads, could they handle increased traffic from a new manufacturing facility that needs to move large volumes of product?  Is your housing stock sufficient if hundreds of new workers moved in?  Do your schools have the capacity to absorb dozens of new students?

Range Readiness: Preparing a region for growth

The Mesabi Iron Range, in northeast Minnesota, may soon see the biggest
economic boom it has experienced in decades.

Soaring prices on world markets for iron ore and other metals, like copper, have brought with them a number of significant mining projects at various stages of development.  Renewable energy projects also are part of the growth picture.  Projects include: environmental upgrades at Cohasset’s Clay Boswell power plant; the proposed Minnesota Steel mining to steel making project in Nashwauk; and the proposed nonferrous metals mining project, PolyMet, in Hoyt Lakes.  These, combined with several other proposed projects, carry a potential investment of $5 billion and a potential for 2,500 new permanent jobs, 3,500 construction jobs and thousands of spin off jobs.

Poll Results

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Take this quarters Poll located in the upper left column of this page *

Leadership Notes and News

From the Summer/Fall, 2008 issue (Vol. 7 No. 2) of the Community Leader newsletter:

‘Leadership Notes and News’ is a regular feature of Community Leader celebrating the accomplishments and endeavors of Blandin Foundation Leadership Program alumni as well as the communities which have been served by its programs.  This issue features Shelli Urness and MinPost.

About the Austin Welcome Center

“The mission of the Austin Welcome Center is to connect newcomers to the resources and information that will facilitate their becoming a vital part of our community, and to provide programs and services that will promote self-sufficiency and multi-cultural understanding.”

Leadership Toolbox: Identifying Community Assets

Whether you are addressing infrastructure challenges in your community or are working toward improved community health in another dimension, identifying the assets you already have in place is a vital first step in moving your community forward. The following is a list of steps used to develop an asset inventory: