Why Rural Matters: Describing the Value of Rural North Dakota
This project is an initiative of the Rural Economic Area Partnership Investment Board (REAP) and is an effort to recognize and quantify the contributions of rural counties within the state.
For a number of years the urban areas of the United States have captured the limelight with stories of large companies' success and growth while rural America has been characterized with articles that abound on poverty, diminishing population, health care disparities and social isolation, but few articles voice the benefits that have come from rural investment. North Dakota, especially, profits from the contributions of rural communities. Farming, mining and tourism are the largest industries in the state driving employment, as well as state revenues.
The Great Plains Center for Community Research & Service at Minot State University compiled existing data for the report.