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97 8 Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities Miner County, South Dakota, created a clear vision that has helped direct the community's approach to development. Instead of spending limited resources trying to attract a major corporation to locate a plant or a store, citizens concentrated on building upon their towns' existing assets; instead of trying to attract new residents, Miner County aimed to create good jobs for the people still there. By 1995, Miner County's population had declined to 3,000, from its peak of 8,500 in the 1920s and 1930s. Many small towns on the Northern Plains were disappearing altogether, and Howard— Miner's county seat —was at risk. Miner County's development strategy began at the local high school that had created a Rural Resource Center with funding from the Annenburg Rural Challenge, which focuses on connecting schools with their communities' Students involved in Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) conducted a community cash-flow study, which found that half of the county's residents shopped outside the county and that if all residents spent just 10 percent more of their disposable income inside the county, it would add more than $7 million to the local economy. In the year after the survey, Miner County's taxable sales increased by more than 40 percent. The success of the study prompted Randy Parry, a former business and economics teacher and the executive director of Miner County Community Revitalization, to form a committee to bring residents together to renew the county's economy and settlements. Using grant money and volunteer labor, partici- pants in the center pulled tree stumps from the downtown of one town and restored houses in another. They arranged seminars for farmers on emerging markets for deer, elk, and organic beef and converted a slaughterhouse that had been vacant for 30 years into a processing location for local organic beef. The center and the town of Howard bought wind turbines from a local machine shop, which has since become Energy Maintenance Services of Gary, South Dakota, lowering local electricity rates. Miner County is still struggling to maintain its population and economic viability, but it has improved local quality of life, established a revolving loan fund for local business, and acquired cell phone service. The county is making the most of its past to build a sustainable future? 1 Miner County Community Revitalization. "How Miner County Got Started:' httpl /www.mccr.net /mccr /began.html 2 Eig, J. "in Bid to Hang On, Miner County, S.D., Downsizes Dreams." Wall Street Journal, March 25, 2002, and Wells, B. Smart Growth at the Frontier.' Strategies and Resources for Rural Communities. Northeast Midwest Institute, 2002. GOALS, STRATEGIES, AND POLICY TOOLS FOR RURAL SMART GROWTH Support the Rural Landscape Help Existing Places Thrive Create Great New Places Create an economic climate that enhances Take care of assets and investments such Build vibrant, enduring neighborhoods and the viability of working lands and as downtowns, Main Streets, existing infra- communities that people, especially young conserves natural lands. structure, and places that the community people, don't want to leave. values. 1.a. Ensure the viability of the resource 2.a. Invest public and private funds in 3.a. Update strategic and policy docu- economy in the region existing places ments to accommodate new growth through compact and contiguous development 1.b. Cultivate economic development 2.b. Encourage private sector investment 3.b. Reform policies to make it easy for strategies that rely on traditional rural developers to build compact, walkable, landscapes mixed -use places 1.c. Promote rural products in urban areas 2.c. Build on past community investments 3.c. Recognize and reward developers and support other urban -rural links that build great places using smart growth 1.d. Link rural land preservation strategies 2.d. Foster economic development in and green building approaches to great neighborhoods existing downtowns