Region 9 director completes world idea tour

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MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) -Ideas from around the world could soon be coming to Southern Minnesota’s agriculture and economic development.

Region Nine Development Commission Executive Director Nicole Griensewic Mickelson recently traveled to Puerto Rico as part of the Americas Competitiveness Exchange on Innovation and Entrepreneurship program.

There she exchanged ideas on best practices for business development.

Mickelson also traveled to Germany, where she exchanged ideas on the future of workforce development and the future of food.

She says now she hopes to keep the conversation going.

“I think we have a lot of really great partnerships, and I won’t be surprised if we do have some specific projects with them in the future,” said Griensewic Mickelson.

She will serve as an ACE Ambassador for the next two years.

View the KEYC article.

U.S. Department of Commerce Announces Eleventh Americas Competitiveness Exchange

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WASHINGTON – From May 18-25, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) and International Trade Administration (ITA), in coordination with the U.S. Department of State and the Organization of American States (OAS), will participate in the Eleventh Americas Competitiveness Exchange (ACE) on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Puerto Rico.

ACE has been recognized as a successful tool for bilateral and multilateral cooperation, furthering the ability of U.S. businesses to compete at home and abroad. Previous hosts have found ACE to be an important vehicle to advance commerce and trade between them and participating nations.

For ACE 11, nearly 50 high-level representatives from 22 countries will explore global and regional partnerships as well as economic development opportunities.

“ACE is an important tool in showcasing the incredibly innovative capacity of U.S. regions and their ability to forge global commercial relationships in support of U.S. companies,” said U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Dr. John Fleming. “We look forward to demonstrating how Puerto Rico’s emerging innovation economy can help drive new private investment to the Island to spur mutually-beneficial business deals and advance local resiliency efforts.”

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May E-Newsletter

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Read about upcoming events, funding opportunities, and more in the latest issue of Region Nine’s E-News!

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Region Nine Development Commission Talks Future Of Improvement Program

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The Region Nine Development Commission met Wednesday afternoon to review MnDOT’s Area Transportation Improvement Program for fiscal years 2020 – 2023.

The $285 million program will bring much needed support to the roads, bridges, and infrastructure in the nine-county region. Public input is essential to ensuring taxpayer funds are invested wisely, so the community was invited to look over the draft and provide feedback.

“They’ll see things for Highway 14. They’ll see things in every single county. There are roads and bridges that are a priority, there’s trails that are priority and also as I said the safe Routes to school will be in there too. Transportation is more than just moving cars it’s about public health, it’s about our environment, it’s also about our economies, so all three of those things are really important to the people that live in this region,” Shawn Schloesser with Region Nine said.
 
Portions of the draft will be included in a state plan, which will go for approval before the Commissioner of Transportation.

–KEYC News 12

Mankato bucks trend of rural population decline

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MANKATO — In 29 of 30 non-metro counties in southern Minnesota, it’s the same story — more Americans are moving out than moving in.

Only Blue Earth County has seen population growth via domestic migration in the first eight years of this decade, according to population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau this month. It was part of a trifecta for Mankato — more births than deaths, an increase in foreign-born residents and more Americans making Mankato their home than former Mankatoans moving elsewhere — that pushed the county’s population up by 3,414 to 67,427.

Blue Earth County has now moved ahead of Rice County as the 13th most populated among Minnesota’s 87 counties.

“I think a lot of community leaders have been really thoughtful about how we attract and retain people,” said Nicole Griensewic Mickelson, executive director of the Region Nine Development Commission.

Continue reading the Free Press article.

April E-Newsletter

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Read about upcoming events, funding opportunities, and more in the latest issue of Region Nine’s E-News!

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Mankato, Blue Earth receive Safe Routes to Schools grants

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Safe Routes to Schools grants announced this week will help the city of Blue Earth add trails and improve pedestrian routes, and will help update a plan for pedestrian improvements near Mankato schools.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation is granting $2.3 million to 29 cities and school districts to support infrastructure and programs that encourage more students to walk and bike to school and to make their routes safe.

Mankato Area Public Schools is among 18 recipients of planning grants. The district received $25,000 to partner with the Region Nine Development Commission to update and expand its Safe Routes to Schools plan.

The plan was drafted in 2013 and included desired improvements around six of the district’s elementary schools, said Shawn Schloesser, Region Nine community and business development specialist.

Continue reading The Free Press article.

The Free Press Names and Notables- Region Nine Development Commission

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Region Nine Development Commission’s Executive Director, Nicole Griensewic Mickelson was selected to participate in the 11TH Americas Competitiveness Exchange on Innovation and Entrepreneurship as a newly selected ACE Ambassador.

Ambassadors are chosen based on their proven leadership and commitment to open doors in their community.

ACE is designed to connect decision makers from the Americas and beyond to establish international and regional partnerships, increase trade and investment, and strengthen Hemispheric innovation and competitiveness by building on ideas and models that work to create jobs.

The program has resulted in more than 2,000 collaboration opportunities, strategic alliances, and new projects.

ACE is organized and supported by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration and Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of State, and the Organization of American States.

The 11th ACE will take place in Puerto Rico May 18-25.

ACE 11 will showcase examples of effective innovation and entrepreneurship-related initiatives underway in Puerto Rico that are impacting its economic development and recovery with the goal of creating information sharing and collaboration building opportunities for all participants. The program will take participants to 10 cities of all sizes throughout the island, where they will interact with over 30 key innovation-driven businesses and institutions as well as share emerging technologies and best practices linked to the sharing economy, renewable energy, medical tourism, smart cities, and the internet of things.

Region Nine Development Commission Selected to Participate in the Transatlantic Cluster Initiative-Food Processing Program in Germany

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Mankato, MN – Region Nine Development Commission (RNDC) selected by the German-American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest to participate in the Transatlantic Cluster Initiative-Food Processing program supported by the German government.

Germany is the leading player for food processing excellence in the European Union and has a high concentration of food processors.  The Transatlantic Cluster Initiative-Food Processing program connects German and American cluster organizations through targeted events in the United States and Germany. This program establishes best practices with focuses on cluster management, internationalization, skilled workforce recruitment, technological development, digitalization in food processing, resource efficiency, and opportunities for foreign direct investment (FDI) and internal collaboration that could further shape Minnesota’s food processing cluster.

The Food Processing program in Germany will be sending 15 select United States participants  to Germany to visit key stakeholders in food processing from business and research associations as well as the opportunity to interact with leading industry associations and clusters. The program will take place from May 12, 2019 to May 17, 2019.

“It is an honor to be invited by the State of Minnesota to apply and to be selected by the German-American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest to participate in the Transatlantic Cluster Initiative program.  Region Nine is a large and thriving food producing region which we are excited to promote to the German market. Promoting regional assets and championing the nine counties are at the core of RNDC’s  mission, and we believe that opening doors to the foreign markets can only strengthen the local economy.

Region Nine represents strong clusters that encompass robust manufacturing, food production, and innovation throughout sectors that intersect a variety of technological innovation and commodity production.  As highlighted in our recent work on the federal initiative, Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP), these diverse yet interrelated clusters represent the highest percentage of jobs within Region Nine and also encompass the highest earnings by industry in eight of the nine counties.

Food production, agribusiness, and manufacturing are closely aligned in Germany’s industrial networks, similar to Region Nine, so beyond laying the groundwork for closer trades we also hope to exchange ideas that will benefit the nine-county region as well as our German counterparts,” shared Executive Director, Nicole Griensewic Mickelson. 

“RNDC’s invitation to participate in this exchange serves as recognition of the importance of regional government,” shared Chair of RNDC’s Commission, Steve Rohlfing. “Our nine counties are tied together as an important economic unity in South Central Minnesota, and RNDC’s board is quite pleased that the organization’s work is recognized by the State of Minnesota and their international partners.”

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Region Nine Development Commission takes great pride in working with and on behalf of counties, cities, townships, and schools throughout South Central Minnesota. Since 1972, being a partner for progress has led to the development of programs and identification of solutions in the areas of community development, economic development, transportation, healthy communities, business development, and leveraging regional resources.