Dakota Dreams:
The Heartland Center provides technical
assistance to eight North Dakota counties and the Fort Berthold Reservation

Northern North Dakota is a land of immense distances and extreme isolation. Small towns nestle among the rolling prairies; roads connecting these communities are narrow and treacherous. Bad weather and poor infrastructure further hamper communications. Dependent primarily on agriculture for the last century, the region is reeling from the impact of economic restructuring with few resources to facilitate diversified economic development. High unemployment in rural areas, severe underemployment throughout the region, and outdated job skills characterize much of the workforce. While more urban areas are working to bounce back from the latest recession, northern North Dakota wallows in farm and ranch foreclosures, declining tax revenues, and the hemorrhaging of skilled young people to urban markets. Lost in the everyday grind of facing the challenges wrought by economic restructuring, dedicated community members struggle to grasp the opportunities available to us in the new economy.

Dakota Dreams represents the partnership between North Dakota Community Ventures and the Heartland Center to involve community residents, existing organizations, and local and tribal governments in designing a new future for the region.

Northern North Dakota provides a perfect opportunity to test Northwest Area Foundation’s strategy to reduce rural poverty with strategic ventures based on a region-wide planning process. Dakota Dreams represents the partnership between North Dakota Community Ventures and the Heartland Center to involve community residents, existing organizations, and local and tribal governments in designing a new future for the region. The Heartland Center has facilitated several community meetings in a discovery of regional assets and visioning for the future. Currently, we are coaching eight task forces charged with creating a plan that reflects community input, the regional vision, and the commitment to systematically reduce poverty.

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