Southern Valley Economic Summit

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This event will bring business leaders, CDC, EDC, and EDA members, elected officials, and community stakeholders within Richland and Wilkin County together to hear about economic activity, learn about workforce development opportunities, and rewriting the rural narrative. You will hear from:

• Ben Winchester: Rural Sociologist, U of MN Extension Office- It seems the rural story has already been told. Small towns keep getting smaller.  Churches, schools, clinics, businesses, and now post offices, have closed their doors as the lucky few migrate out to the big cities. This deficit framework dominates how we discuss and envision our rural communities. However, the story of rural America since 1970 is rich and diverse, with positive trends occurring under the radar. Learn how positive changes around migration, community involvement, economic development, and regional living have diversified this landscape that require us to rewrite the narrative of rural community change.
• Patrick Mineer: CEO of Golden Path Solutions- Golden Path Solutions started from an idea. How can we help students in high school or just starting higher-ed navigate the path to their career? How do we connect students with employers who are trying to find them? And finally, how do we help employers build the workforce of the future with the right talents, the right skills, and the right education? We achieve this by offering solutions to students and employers. We work with students, using experiences during their school years to identify the student’s skills, talents, and what careers might be a great fit, helping them make better decisions about schooling and what careers to pursue. At the same time, we work with employers to identify the raw talents, skills, and education needed to succeed in specific roles, providing information that can be used for job descriptions, hiring, or talent management. But then we do something special. We allow students to make themselves searchable to employers who are looking for them, and we compare their skills and talents with the job profile. If there’s a match, we create an agreement where the employer can influence the student’s education path in exchange for internships and coops while the student is in school, and tuition reimbursement and a job when the student graduates.
• Kawar Farok: Relationship Executive for Workforce Hope- Learn from Kawar on how this Fargo based startup has helped local employers help solve their workforce issues with international workers due to recent immigration changes.
• Chad Chancellor: The Next Move Group- In this video you will learn about the different roles of board, elected officials, and economic development staff.