Behind the "brain gain:" Ups and downs of going rural

Posted at 11:43 AM on May 16, 2012 by Jennifer Vogel (0 Comments)
Filed under: Broadband, Community Development, Economic Development, Rural

"Growing up in the Twin Cities, I never thought I'd be standing under a tree someday, plucking chickens," said Karen Tolkkinen, who moved to Clitherall, in west central Minnesota, in 2010. "Oh, gosh, I felt sorry for them, especially the last one who kept calling and calling to the other chickens that were already butchered."

Raising poultry is just one of the adjustments Tolkkinen made after moving to her husband's family farm. She eats venison now and plans to generate income by selling produce at a nearby farmer's market. "I didn't realize it would be so hard to make money in rural Minnesota," she wrote in response to a query from MPR's Public Insight Network (PIN).

She is one of the people who represent what University of Minnesota Extension sociologist Ben Winchester calls the "brain gain" in research being published today. For a collection of other MPR News Public Insight Network members' experiences, go here.

"When I visit the city, I see my old friends wearing the latest clothes and they have smart phones with 4G and they go on expensive trips. I didn't realize it at the time, but when I lived in the Twin Cities, I looked down a little at poor people. You know, 'Get a job.' Well, when you're 30 miles from the nearest employer, and gas prices are $3.60 a gallon, and the job only pays $10 an hour, you really have to weigh whether that job is worth it."

And yet, she loves the "peace and beauty" of her new home. "Our farm sounds like a bird sanctuary in the spring. You can walk down the gravel roads for miles without seeing a car. In the winter, the snow stays white. During the summer, the fields shimmer with thick crops of hay or oats or wheat. And at night, the stars are brilliant."

Tolkkinen's experience is similar to that of many people who move from the city to the country. They love the beauty and peace and security. But they tend to have a hard time finding decent paying jobs and don't like to drive the long distances to work, school and shopping.

Winchester posits that while young people continue to leave rural areas for the cities, there is an ongoing countertrend of people in their 30s and 40s moving back. He calls the phenomenon the "brain gain." We'll have more coverage of the report this afternoon, but here's a summary of what people told us.

There are myriad reasons behind these moves to rural Minnesota. People may want to be closer to family and friends. In some cases, they return to look after a sick parent or relative. That's what inspired Jannet Walsh to quit a public relations job in Ocala, Florida and move to tiny Murdock, Minnesota. She made a video for us about the experience, which you can view here.

Sometimes people move to raise families, in the hopes of providing their kids an upbringing similar to their own, in a community where everybody knows everybody. Laura Knudsen moved to Alexandria eight years ago from Minneapolis. "My husband and I were ready to start a family. We had watched my niece and nephew grow up in a small town outstate. After a great deal of discussion we decided we wanted a similar experience for our children. There is a quality to life that is less revolved around material items in smaller areas. We felt that growing up in an area with a stronger sense of community was important when raising our kids."

The notion of freedom and natural pleasures was a big draw for Mike Bubany, a financial analyst who recently moved from Bloomington to Spring Valley, south of the Twin Cities, where he teleworks from his 21-acre property. He appreciates that nobody is looking over his shoulder, as he demonstrates in this video he made for us.

Sometimes, people move to rural areas dragging their feet, only to realize it was the best decision they ever made. "I was born and raised in Minneapolis and did not want to move to a small town," wrote June Kallestad, who moved to Cloquet in 1993. "I thought people would be small-minded...and there would be nothing to do. I found out that I LOVE the woods and outdoors. I didn't know that about myself. I have a lovely quality of life even though I don't make a lot of money. I have everything I need - including a horse! I also didn't know what a joy THAT would be!! I never even dreamed of owning a horse..."

BREAKING INTO THE CROWD

Interestingly, Winchester has found that people who move or return to rural areas tend to have higher incomes and be more civically engaged than longtime locals. That's definitely true of Ann Thompson, who returned to her hometown of Milan, in western Minnesota, seven years ago after living overseas for 18 years. "When I left, I didn't necessarily think I would come back," she said. "I just thought I wanted to see the world."

She moved back to spend time with her aging parents. "I didn't want to live with the regrets of not doing that," Thompson said. Also, "I wanted to start a business. I thought it would be easy to do here." She opened a gift and art shopcalled Billy Maple Tree's in a building that's been in her family for generations. She volunteers much of her time and teaches English as a second language to the town's growing Micronesian population. "Our lives are frantically busy, but that is our choice," she said.

"In a city it's easy to meld in with everyone and go with the flow. In a small town, your community is what you make it. I'm quite happy to get involved and make things happen. I've been energized by my return."

Michael Dagen, an audio engineer who moved to Hewitt in central Minnesota with his wife after living in Fargo, Duluth and St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, kept to himself at first because he "didn't want to freak people out." But, he said, "It didn't take long to realize we needed to get involved." Now, they've used a grant to repair the local historical museum, are starting a lending library and have launched a music and barter festival that's in its third year.

"There is quite a creative community we're tapping into," Dagen said. "We feel right at home. We feel connected, which is a powerful feeling I've never had before. I imagine it's similar to the first settlers to the area that came because there was opportunity. Land was reasonable. Everybody depended on each other. Nobody had any money, so they would trade their services and goods."

But breaking into a small town's social scene isn't always easy. "It's hard to get to know people," said Amy Hoglin, who moved from a Twin Cities suburb to rural Lake Wilson in 1998. "People are all in their established groups and are not accustomed to welcoming newcomers."

"Meeting people when I first moved here was very difficult," Erica Ellis agreed. She moved to Bemidji from Delaware by way of Missouri 14 years ago. "A lot of people have lived here their whole lives and have established friendships, so breaking in to that was difficult....It is still difficult for me to meet people, because a lot of the social activity around Bemidji is church-centered and I am an atheist. There aren't any groups here for atheists, humanists, etc, so it is hard to find like-minded people. It is also a fairly conservative community and I am a liberal."

Being single doesn't help matters, wrote Cynthia French, who moved to Little Falls from Minneapolis 16 months ago. "People are nice, and it has been easier to make friends than I was told it would be... That said, most of my friendships are with people who have families. I have not found a supportive community for single people and I have to really work to make connections to creative people in my age group (which usually means driving 30 miles to arts events outside of my town)."

IT'S A LONG WAY FROM HERE TO THERE

Cheap housing draws a lot of people to rural Minnesota, judging by Winchester's research and responses to our PIN query. Hoglin wrote that her husband "was missing rural life and wanted to be able to hunt and fish more often. I was definitely not missing rural life, but eventually warmed to the idea of moving back when I realized we could afford to buy an acreage, while we couldn't afford to buy anything in the Twin Cities area."

"There are no decent restaurants," wrote Daniel Triestman, who moved to Eveleth 10 years ago from Philadelphia. "There is no diversity, be it ethnic or intellectual. On the plus-side, my wife and I were able to buy our home for under $12,000. Our family of five lives comfortably for under $30,000 a year."

While housing may be inexpensive, newcomers sometimes find that other aspects of rural living are more costly. "We have to drive to get everywhere or anywhere," wrote Tracie Yule, who moved from Chaska to Belle Plaine a decade ago. "It's expensive. Plus, it takes a long time to get anywhere and it's almost a day trip if we want to go shopping. Also, my husband and I have to commute to work because there aren't a lot of employment opportunities in our area or ones that pay well."

Knudsen, from Alexandria, wrote, "I also didn't expect the cost of living to be so out of balance with the wages in the area. Most of our expenses are the same or higher than living in the Twin Cities yet wages are lower."

French says the rural cost of living is helping push her to move back to the Twin Cities. "The decision is partially social and partially financial," she said. "I cannot sustain myself financially."

The answer for some is to adjust their standards of living and do more for themselves. "Friends from the metro tell me they would love to live in the country, but the jobs don't pay enough," said David Barrett, who moved from Kimball seven years ago to the country near Murdock. "My response is always that you don't need to make as much when your cost of living is less and you become somewhat self-reliant. Our taxes are less, we can't order food and the nearest big box is 35 minutes away. We are also able to cut our costs of living by providing our own heat, much of our own food and not having shopping as a hobby/habit. Living in the country is a luxury within itself."

WORKING AMONG THE TREES

With broadband Internet becoming more common in rural Minnesota, some people telework from home while drawing a paycheck from companies in the Twin Cities or other urban areas. But without an arrangement like that, the job landscape can be bleak.

Wrote Tolkkinen, "A lot of people in the country end up patching together several part-time jobs, so they work without any benefits, which is what I did for several years. After seven years in rural Minnesota, my savings are nearly depleted. I did start my own business four years ago, but finances and access to good health insurance continue to be a struggle. You have to look for different opportunities. You have to ask yourself, what do I have? What can I offer?"

Dave Konshok moved back to his home town of Park Rapids from Ft. Walton Beach, Florida, six years ago after decades in the military. He calls Park Rapids, "a great community in which to raise the family, surrounded by a fabulous natural environment... But I also knew to expect limited economic opportunity: Upon graduating from high school here many years ago, my friends and I dubbed it a 'BYOJ' area - 'Bring Your Own Job'"

"Without a doubt, the biggest challenge of living in rural areas or small towns is economic: making enough money to survive and thrive," he wrote. "It's very unlikely a high-paying job will even exist, let alone be handed to you. You have to dial down your financial expectations, while at the same time be ready to do whatever it takes to survive financially."

Whether someone thrives in rural Minnesota seems to come down to priorities, what's most important in a person's life. Where some see social and economic restrictions, others see new opportunities to connect with people.

"My community is nothing like I expected and everything that I had hoped," wrote Adrienne Sweeney, who moved to Lanesboro in 2002 from the Twin Cities and was raised in Philadelphia. "Growing up in a huge city like Philadelphia, I had no idea what to expect from a small (REALLY small) town. What I have found is that it is one of the most artistically creative places I have ever been... To be able to create a piece of theatre and then have an in-depth discussion about the work with the teller at your bank or your server at the diner the next day is a remarkable experience and makes your work feel so much more real and immediate."

"To be able to participate in a molten iron pour or attend a barn dance or string quartet performance with your neighbors is so inspiring," Sweeney wrote. "I have been more artistically energized here in this town of 750 than any of the 'big cities' I have lived in."

Broadband, Telework and the Renaissance of American Life

http://www.broadbandforamerica.com/blog/broadband-telework-and-renaissance-american-life

Posted February 21st, 2012 by Michael Haaren -RatRaceRebellion.com

Imagine living in a pedestrian community where you could work from home or walk to an eWork center. The center could have daycare, a cafe, shops, and a gym. You could eat locally-grown food (think light carbon footprint and actual nutrition), patronize local businesses, and read to your daughter's second-grade class. Your employer could be down the block, across the nation, or over the sea.
No more ghost towns. No more road rage. No more missed soccer games, bedtime stories, or school plays. Suddenly, the rat is no longer quite so involved in the race. As commuting and driving generally are minimized and our bonds to place and people restored, we become "emotionally available" once again to partners, children, friends and community.
The reigning triumvirate of the car, the truck, the highway has been properly demoted, replaced by a higher and healthier authority -- the heart, the senses, the whole.
For this dream to come true, one important element needs to be in place – access to broadband. Broadband allows for individuals to connect across the globe. Being anchored to a desk to achieve efficiency in the workplace could be a necessity of the past as individuals could just as easily connect from anywhere else in the world.
Expanding broadband access to all corners of the nation is crucial for telework. Availability of broadband would help to not only avoid the rat race but would also build on an economy in need of repair. Internet access can pave the way towards job expansion
as well as a more fruitful and efficient workforce.
This is the great promise of broadband and telework. And it's high time it were kept.

Michael Haaren is CEO of Staffcentrix, LLC, which provides virtual-careers training programs to the US State Department, Air Force and other clients. He appears often in the media as a telework advocate, including CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Businessweek and many more. He is the co-author of two guides to home-based work, The 2-Second Commute and Work at Home Now, and Co-Director of the telework jobs website, RatRaceRebellion.com.

Telecommuting 'keeps talented women in the workplace' - study

Telecommuting or working from outside the office, "keeps talented women in the workplace," according to an online survey conducted by market researcher Ispos, on behalf of Reuters News. This is due to these women now having the option to stay with their career while having and raising children instead of getting on the career path to do so.

Further, those who "strongly agree" with this view were mainly from "Turkey (64%), Russia (62%), Poland (53%), Hungary (51%) and Indonesia (50%). Those in Sweden (14%), Canada (22%), South Korea (22%), Great Britain (24%), the United States (26%) and Japan (27%) are least likely to agree."
Published on January 23, 2012, data from the "The World of Work: Global Study of Online Employees" was collected via the Ipsos Online Panel system, which polled "11,383 online connected employees from 24 countries via online survey methodology between Ocober 7 and 20, 2011. The countries reporting [were] Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States of America."

The report also revealed that 17%, or close to one in five, of the 11,000 plus polled, telecommuted "'a frequent basis': 7% say they 'work every day from home which is remote or separate from their employers real office elsewhere' while another 10% say they do so 'on a very consistent and constant basis like evenings and weekends.'"

Additionally emerging; "Telecommuting is primarily taking place in emerging markets: those working in the Middle East and Africa (27%), Latin America (25%) and Asia-Pacific (24%) are considerably more likely than those in North America (9%) and Europe (9%) to telecommute 'on a frequent basis.'
More specifically, employees in India (56%), Indonesia (34%), Mexico (30%), Argentina (29%), South Africa (28%) and Turkey (27%) are most likely to be pursuing this form of employment. On the other end, those in Hungary (3%), Germany (5%), Sweden (6%), France (7%), Italy (7%) and Canada (8%) are least like to telecommute 'on a frequent basis.'

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15265:telecommuting-keeps-talented-women-in-the-workplace-study&catid=79:analysis&Itemid=565

Top 5 Career Fields Hiring for Telecommuting and Flexible Jobs from FlexJobs

FlexJobs, the leading job service for work at home, part-time, contract, and freelance job listings, has just released its Flexible Job Index (FJI) data for September.

Boulder, CO (PRWEB) October 07, 2011

FlexJobs' Flexible Job Index (FJI) for September shows big fluctuations in the top 25 fields hiring for telecommuting, part-time, freelance, and flexible employment. Notable changes include an 87% increase in Data Entry jobs and a 32% decrease in available Writing jobs. The top five fields with the most flexible jobs include:
1.     Medical & Health
2.     Education
3.     Sales
4.     Computer & IT
5.     Administrative


In contrast, it's been a tougher month for job seekers hoping to secure flexible employment in fields that saw a decrease in job listings, including Writing (which saw a drop of 32% in available job postings as mentioned), Web Design (with a drop of 23%), and Graphic Design (with a 22% drop).
On the positive side, applicants searching for jobs in Data Entry found 87% more postings in September than in August. Additionally, the other top career fields that gained the most volume of telecommuting and flexible job postings in September were Accounting & Finance (up by 28.4%), Consulting (up by 27.8%), Business Development (up by 20%), and Customer Service (up by 15%). The increases reflect growth in the number of available jobs in these fields.


"In our recent data, we've continued to see strong growth in professional fields that people might not typically associate with telecommuting and flexible jobs," Sara Sutton Fell, CEO of FlexJobs stated. "But the truth is that telecommuting and flexible jobs are much, much more widespread than they're given credit for."


Along those lines, FlexJobs highlights some of the surprising jobs amongst their hiring for new telecommuting job listings in September, including: Marine Species Observer (telecommuting and flexible schedule), CEO (telecommuting), State Director of Nursing (telecommuting and flexible schedule), and a History & Ethnic Studies Instructor (part-time and telecommuting).


The ongoing Flexible Job Index demonstrates the growing diversity in the employment market for flexible jobs, and provides reliable data on top career fields that offer work flexibility. Data includes positions listed on the site directly by employers as well as jobs found by FlexJobs' trained staff of researchers who scour hundreds of online sources, including industry blogs, employer websites, job boards, job feeds, and more. Only professional jobs that can both be confirmed as legitimate and as having some kind of work flexibility (telecommuting, part-time or flexible schedule, or freelance contracts) are included in the job database.


The interactive Quarterly Flexible Job Trend Report can be viewed by visiting www.flexjobs.com/trends. For media inquiries, please contact Chelsea Gladden, Chelsea(at)flexjobs(dot)com or 1-866-991-9222 x 4.


About FlexJobs
FlexJobs is the leading online service for hand-screened and professional flexible, part-time, telecommuting, and freelance job listings. FlexJobs gives job-seekers an ad-free way to find legitimate jobs quickly, easily, and safely. A proud member of the Better Business Bureau, FlexJobs skilled research team provides quality job leads in over 50 career categories, ranging from entry-level to executive, freelance to full-time. FlexJobs is a green, carbon-balanced company which is leading the way to the future of work by promoting telecommuting and flexible jobs that allow people to enjoy work and life in environmentally sustainable ways.


To find out more about FlexJobs, visit www.FlexJobs.com.
###



For the original version on PRWeb visit: www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2011/10/prweb8860083.htm

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/10/07/prweb8860083.DTL#ixzz1aQzxRweC

Protecting your company if you use telework

HUMAN RESOURCES

Protecting your company if you use telework

OCTOBER 8, 2011 @ 10:39AM | JULIE TAPPERO

The benefits and cost-savings of allowing employees to work from home have received much attention — it cuts down on commuting expenses for staff as well as overhead within your own office, and provides your employees with morale-boosting work-life flexibility. In my own company, we’ve allowed several employees to telecommute for a variety of reasons — physical disability, an ailing spouse who couldn’t be left alone, a new baby, a severe allergy to fragrances. In all of these instances, we were very pleased with the success of our work-from-home arrangements. But telecommuting also comes with risks — chief among them, security issues and liability issues, on top of the issues that naturally crop up when managing someone who isn’t physically in the same location as you.

One recent case, Sandberg v. JC Penny Co., in particular caught my attention. A woman who primarily worked out of her home as a custom decorator and saleswoman of bedding and window treatments claimed that when she went into her garage to retrieve some fabric samples, she tripped over her dog and fractured her wrist. Initially, a Workers’ Compensation Board in Oregon denied her claim for workers’ compensation benefits, but this ruling was reversed by an appeals court. She argued that because she was required by her employer to work out of her home, hazards within her home automatically qualified as work environment hazards. Now that her case has been sent back to the Workers’ Compensation Board, it appears she has a strong chance of winning.

Some of the benefits of allowing employees to telework lose their appeal when weighed against the fact that employers lack the control over employees’ environments and activities that they have when people work in-office. It is clear that risk management is an extremely important element of any successful telework set-up. Telecommuting truly is an excellent option for companies and their employees, but only if a business takes the proper steps to protect itself.

If possible, it’s best to only allow employees you know well and who have an established history at your company to work from home. After all, trust is a huge component of any telecommuting set-up. You must trust your employee to maintain a safe office environment, to complete tasks unsupervised, and to accurately report their hours. While there are obviously measures you can take to ensure that these things happen, you’ll protect yourself from potential fraud or other problems if you only offer this privilege to staff who’ve proven you can rely on them. Additionally, if you allow hourly workers to telecommute, make sure you have a program in place that they can log into while working to track all of their time, to prevent fraudulent overtime and hours claims.

It’s not uncommon for companies to offer a telework option only to long-term or high-performing employees. Keep in mind, though, that if this is the case, due to the Americans with Disabilities Act, you may have to provide this option to workers who do not meet the long-term/high-performing criteria, if they are disabled and request accommodation.

It is critically important that an employee’s home work space is located in a safe, clean, controlled environment. You should be directly involved in selecting the space where a telecommuting employee will work, and in setting up that area so it is as ergonomically correct and safe as your normal office space. It should be well-lit and ventilated, large enough to comfortably accommodate your employee and any equipment they will be using, and free of clutter and physical obstructions. It should have enough electrical outlets to safely power all of the equipment they need to work, and all wires and electrical cords must be kept secured and out of the way. Once the workspace has been set up, thoroughly document it with photos.

As with almost all employment-related issues, clear policies and guidelines are your best protection. You should have a detailed and very clear outline of your expectations for telecommuting employees, and guidelines that address any potential safety issues — all in writing. Employees who work from home should be required to sign these documents to indicate that they understand and will follow your safety and security requirements. This agreement should state that home workers will be covered by workers’ compensation laws only if they are injured during the course of performing their job duties. As an additional step, you should periodically reassess your telecommuting employees’ work spaces (and document your assessments, preferably with photos) to ensure that they continue to meet your safety requirements.

Some companies go so far as to make telecommuting employees sign an agreement that they will not allow children, family members and pets in their home workspace. Creating a policy of this type is a very good idea, as it further reduces risk of injury, as well as security risks — which we’ll address next.

Technological security risks are a major concern when you allow an employee to work outside of your normal office space. Protecting the privacy and integrity of company data and networks is a high priority when employees are working outside of the office.

For starters, you should always have a detailed acceptable use policy regarding the use of computers, company data and online media, whether or not you have employees who work from home. If you do have home workers, this becomes even more important. Your staff needs to sign this policy, and it is important to update it yearly, or whenever you implement new technology, or new ways of using technology.

You should provide telecommuting employees with company-issued equipment, rather than having them use their own computers or personal technology for work. Have an IT expert ensure that their network is properly secured, and their machine is protected by firewalls, antivirus software, failed log-on lockout settings, etc. If your company blocks employees from accessing certain sites from work, block those sites on your telecommuting employees’ work machines too. Additionally, telecommuting employees should not be set up as administrators on their work computers, to prevent them from installing non-work related programs or otherwise harming the machine. Instead, have your IT staff remotely handle updates or changes.

If you’re providing employees with laptops, you may also want your policy to prohibit the use of that equipment in unsecured environments, such as wireless networks available at public locations like coffee shops (unless that interferes with the work they need to perform).

According to data released by the Nemertes Research Group in 2009, as many as 71 percent of U.S. companies offer full-time or part-time telecommuting options to their employees. As the pressure of an uncertain and struggling economy continues to bear down on us for the foreseeable future, the flexibility and cost-savings offered by telecommuting will ensure it remains an appealing option for businesses to pursue. My own experiences with providing work-from-home arrangements in my company were all extremely positive. But part of the reason that was the case is that we made sure to implement all of the measures necessary to protect ourselves and ensure the safety of our employees and data. The chances are high that if you do the same, you’ll enjoy an equally positive experience!

(Editor’s Note: Julie Tappero is the President and owner of West Sound Workforce, a professional staffing and recruiting company based in Poulsbo and Gig Harbor. She can be reached at julie@westsoundworkforce.com. View her LinkedIn profile atwww.linkedin.com/in/jtappero. The recommendations and opinions provided are based on general human resource management fundamentals, practices and principles, and are not legal opinions, advice, or guaranteed outcomes. Consult with your legal counsel when addressing legal concerns related to human resource issues and legal contracts.)

MTA President meets with DEED

Brent J. Christensen, President and CEO of the Minnesota Telecom Alliance met with Minnesota DEED Commissioner Phillips this morning, September 21st.  They talked about the telework summit and asked them to look at adding a “Statewide Telework” location field to their jobforce website, which DEED agreed to look into.  They also talked about the white paper the Center for Rural Policy and Development is doing on the economic impact of telcos in MN and how the FCC is working on changes to USF/ICC that will significantly impact what and how we do business.  The meeting will be followed up in November with a meeting between DEED and the Minnesota Telecom Alliance Economic Development Committee to discuss mutual areas where we could promote economic development in rural Minnesota.

Broadband in Faribault County

The following is a video that highlights the use and benefit of broadband in Faribault County, Minnesota. It’s a nice display of broadband use and adoption in the area – focusing on the BEVCOMM as the provider.

It was created by Save Rural Broadband. Here is a description of the organization from their web site…

Save Rural Broadband was created by the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association, Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies, and the Western Telecommunications Alliance to educate Americans about Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposals that could profoundly affect rural America. Our goal is to show Congress and the Obama administration how the proposals the FCC released in February 2011 are detrimental to efforts to upgrade broadband Internet networks in many rural communities – and how it would result in loss of jobs and decreased economic development in regions of America that need them most. We are working to convince the FCC to instead move forward to adopt the landmark “consensus framework” that has been submitted by a unified group of small, mid-size, and large carriers. This framework is the product of many years of discussion, representing an important step forward by the telecommunications industry to reach tough compromises that will restore regulatory certainty.