Latest Posts

• A complex problemFebruary 14, 2019 - 10:46 am

  Two bills introduced in the Minnesota Legislature aim to increase child care access and space across the state. To Albert Lea Children’s Center Executive Director Sue Loch, however, the legislation does not address the need to pay child care teachers more, which she said is needed to increase child care access. One bill, authored by […]

• Free business coaching for minority-owned businessesFebruary 13, 2019 - 9:38 am

  Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, in partnership with Region Nine Development Commission and Faribault Diversity Coalition, is recruiting minority-owned business leaders for a new cohort of its Prosperity Initiative. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 29 percent of Minnesota’s population in 2040 will be people of color, an increase from only 4 percent in 1980. In […]

• Tackling the child care crisis at all levelsFebruary 1, 2019 - 10:48 am

  Last May U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar sat inside the conference room of the Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce office building and listened to community stakeholders share child care issues during a roundtable discussion. Chamber President Brad Gruhot said child care used to be a cost issue, but he now told the senator “it’s also an […]