Minnesota Newspaper Association has big-name speakers

The Minnesota Newspaper Convention in Brooklyn Park did not disappoint on its final day at the Minneapolis Marriot Northwest hotel. At the Friday lunch session, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar were on hand to give in-person speeches at the hotel's Northland banquet hall. Among many topics, Governor Walz spoke about the dangers that rise when local news sources are closed or merge with larger companies. Senator Klobuchar gave many insights on legislation being developed in Washington, D.C. about how to support local news sources.

There's more to come that I'll get to in the February 6 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

Brooten city council meeting is Monday, June 24

The Brooten city council will meet in regular session on Monday, June 24 at 7 p.m. at city hall. It has a short agenda on deck, but one item is a big one: discussion of the location of where the city should build a new city hall/community center. The agenda is below.

7:00    Michelle Schmitz, Xcel Energy - Xcel Energy Brooten Franchise Agreement

7:15    Resolution No. 2024-11 – A Resolution Accepting Donations to the City

7:30    Consideration of $260 Donation in 2024 to the Initiative Foundation

7:45    Website Renewal Contract - Prices and Options

8:00    City Hall – Location Discussion

8:15    Other     

June Dairy Month at Redhead Creamery

Shown is the Redhead Creamery cheese shop, with Lucas and Alise Sjostrom visiting with customers.

The Redhead Creamery is celebrating June Dairy Month with a “not your average book fair” on Tuesday, June 16 from 1 to 4 p.m.  This event includes Usborne Books, a reading corner and a petting farm.

The Redhead Creamery is also excited to host an Open House on Saturday, June 27 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Summer cheese shop hours are on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. all four days.

Here's a video clip from a stop I made in April during a tour for visitors to Redhead Creamery:

How to get to Redhead Creamery?

From Brooten, turn north onto County Highway 18 (Central Avenue North) and travel north on that road for 5.2 miles. Then turn right onto 310th Street (gravel) and take that for two miles. Then take the first left onto 463rd Avenue. The farm is the first driveway on the left 0.6 miles later.

31535 463rd Avenue, Brooten, MN 56316

www.redheadcreamery.com

info@redheadcreamery.com

Hiring environment for teenagers picks up

Job prospects for Minnesota teenagers have improved considerably since the recession, with the average unemployment rate for young people ages 16 to 19 falling to 11.4 percent in 2014, according to figures from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).

While the teenage unemployment rate was well above the 4 percent unemployment rate for all age groups on average in the state in 2014, the new figures are an improvement from teen jobless rates that surged to more than 20 percent during the recession. The average unemployment rate for Minnesota teens was 16.7 percent as recently as 2013.

In 2014, about 122,000 teenagers were working and another 16,000 were actively seeking work in Minnesota, according to DEED figures.

“Prospects for teenagers finding jobs this summer are better than in recent years, primarily because of an improving economy and tighter labor market,” said Oriane Casale of DEED’s Labor Market Information Office. “With strong employment growth in both the retail and the accommodation and food service sectors in March, this might be a great summer for teens in Minnesota to get some work experience and earn their first paychecks.”

The 11.3 percent unemployment rate for Minnesota teens ranked sixth nationally, with only Montana, Utah, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska having lower unemployment rates for that age group.

Minnesota has the seventh-highest labor force participation rate in the country for teenagers at 48.5 percent. Nationally, the teen labor force participation rate is about 33 percent.

Based on the latest (2013) third quarter data – the time of year when teen employment is the highest – teens were most likely to work in accommodation and food services. About 35 percent of employed teenagers worked in that sector during the period.

Other major employment sectors for teens included retail trade (23 percent of teen jobs), health care and social assistance (7 percent), arts, entertainment and recreation (7 percent) and public administration (5 percent).

On average, teens earned $663 during the quarter at jobs that DEED tracks. Many employed teens worked in less formal jobs that DEED does not track, such as babysitting or lawn mowing.

Relative to the overall population, teen unemployment is still high. The teen jobless rate was more than triple the unemployment rate for any age group over 25 in the state in 2014.

DEED offers services and programs to help teens find work. The agency’s MinnesotaWorks.net job bank lists nearly 84,000 jobs, many of them suitable for teenagers. Job opportunities also are available through DEED’s youth employment, training and education programs.

DEED is the state’s principal economic development agency, promoting business recruitment, expansion and retention, workforce development, international trade and community development. For more details about the agency and our services, visit us at http://mn.gov/deed/ . Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/mndeed .

Mike's Market in Brooten!

Read more about the opening of Mike's Market in Brooten this week in the Bonanza Valley Voice.

Front page.

What a terrific achievement! The town has been without a grocery store since February 2014. We only have to look down the road a little ways to the southeast to see a much bigger town, New London, struggling with trying to restart their own grocery store. They have been without a grocery store since 2009. (Ouch)

Redhead Creamery announcement!

Check out page eight of this week's Bonanza Valley Voice to read an important announcement from Redhead Creamery, located between Brooten and Padua.

Later this week we'll have video and photos posted from a visit by the Bonanza Valley Voice to their farm operation. (Sorry, didn't get a chance to go out there on Wednesday.)

This looks interesting

Do you know anyone who'd be interested in small-town media on the television end of the spectrum?

http://www.pioneer.org/news/now-hiring-tv-producer-reporter

Economic development

According to Margaret Anderson Kelliher of the Minnesota High Tech Association (MHTA), by 2020, Minnesota will need an additional 80,000 to 180,000 people with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) degrees to fill newly created jobs and to replace retiring baby boomers. She calls the challenge of finding the talent companies need one of the top issues affecting growth of companies in our state and region, particularly related to technology jobs and basic-science jobs. She says workforce training must be our most important area of focus in order to meet MHTA's goal of Minnesota being in the top five science and technology states in the country.

Since the birth replacement rate won't fill all of these jobs, Kelliher says, we can't afford to lose people along the way. She believes we suffer in the STEM area from the "super-bright student bias," often focusing only on the top students who can qualify, for example, for the highly ranked University of Minnesota's engineering program. But we must also identify people in the middle with good skills and aptitude, who can complete two- or four-year STEM degrees in Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) institutions, are more likely to stay in Minnesota after graduation and can have successful careers.

Kelliher believes we must do a better job of exposing people to the variety of job and training opportunities in STEM fields. That includes bringing people from high-tech businesses into the classroom to tell students and their parents what they do, taking students on tours of high-tech companies and providing more high-tech internships for high school and college students. She discusses several programs outside of the state's postsecondary system providing these opportunities and alternative job skills training.

As a member of MnSCU's board of trustees, Kelliher says the biggest challenge facing the system is its low completion rate for students, whether they are pursuing certificate programs, two-year degrees or four-year degrees. This is expensive for the individual, for the state and for the system, she says. Retaining the number of students who enter the MnSCU system would solve the system's budget and enrollment issues, she asserts.

Small town businesses

Without the support of small town businesses like Jim Fischer's auto repair shop, the Bonanza Valley Voice would be unable to last into the modern digital age. We will carefully attempt to bridge the divide between the traditional ways of operating a small town newspaper and the 21st-century media techniques of the digital age.

Thank you to all area businesses for your support!

Health care news

While in the future we will get our news room up to speed to provide our own coverage of events such as the open house celebration at Glacial Ridge Health Systems in Glenwood, in this case we will share an article from the Pope County Tribune that's on GRHS's website.

I managed to take in the open house on Dec. 2 but didn't get any photos taken.

The Bonanza Valley area is fortunate to be served by excellent health care systems, including Glenwood's.

http://www.glacialridge.org/glenwood-hospital-expansion-is-complete

Interesting news for small businesses

Read about it at the National Small Business Association website:
http://www.nsba.biz/?p=8955

The Bonanza Valley region is rich with small businesses and industry who would benefit by provisions in the bill that's referenced in this web article.

"Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014 (H.R. 5771)"

A very intriguing column

Check it out:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/opinion/why-are-some-cultures-more-individualistic-than-others.html?ref=opinion&_r=0

Small Business Saturday!

Staff at Jana Mae's and Mudslingers Cafe.

Downtown Brooten shown just a week and two days before the big snow storm pounded the area.

Today is Small Business Saturday across the U.S.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Business_Saturday

Be sure to support small businesses throughout the year, 365/24/7!

Article on manufacturing

Brooten, like many small rural Minnesota towns, has a solid base of manufacturing-based jobs. I ran across this article on Facebook and found it interesting and worth sharing:

http://www.realclear.com/business/2014/10/23/manufacturing_moving_from_china_to_us_survey_9268.html