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In the far northwestern corner of Minnesota, Badger (population: 417) has big plans.
The city recently completed a series of infrastructure improvement projects, including renovating its water tower, replacing fire hydrants, extending sewer mains, and installing new smart water meters in every household and business. But there’s still more to be done.
The city also identified a number of follow-up projects, including repairing streets and signage, improving a local campground, building a much-needed housing development, and adding a new fire department building.
To bring all these plans together, City Council member Corey Christianson, who also runs two local grocery stores and has been involved in the planning and implementation of many of these big projects, turned to the University of Minnesota Empowering Small Minnesota Communities (ESMC) program for help. ESMC is designed to support small communities, just like Badger, in becoming well-positioned to benefit from federal, state, and local investment.
Community-University partnership
Christianson has worked alongside the University of Minnesota before. When he first opened his businesses, the University of Minnesota Extension Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships (RSDP) provided resources specific to running a rural grocery store. This included helping him secure grant funding to purchase and update equipment and sending him to the National Rural Grocery Summit.
“The University, and Extension in particular, is an incredible resource,” Christianson says. “We should be shouting from the rooftops to everyone about how they should be looking to the University for resources.”
Christianson applied for ESMC’s Community Futures pathway to help his community connect with a “deep bench” of University specialists, many from the Minnesota Design Center, to assess existing assets and identify potential opportunities for the city. It also meant getting help building a coalition of engaged citizens to participate in the planning process.
“I have visited many towns just like Badger here in the northwest,” explains Northwest RSDP Executive Director Shannon Stassen. “Many have serious infrastructure needs—roads and bridges need replacing, water mains are breaking down—but not enough people and resources to go after critical state and federal funding. Many of these towns also have their own Corey Christiansons; people who wear many hats and want to get things done.”
Gaining momentum
To get the ESMC work launched, Stassen and colleagues from the Minnesota Design Center and RSDP’s Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) organized a tour of Badger and the surrounding communities. They visited businesses, viewed recent projects and met with community leaders.
One stop was the Badger High School, where the group learned the school urgently needed to replace its aging heating system. Northwest CERTs Coordinator Anna Peterson made a connection between what the school needed and the clean energy resources she works with every day. Peterson provided school officials with an application to fund a feasibility study through the local power company for a geothermal system. She also connected city officials with her colleague Peter Lindstrom, who leads technical assistance for the Solar for Public Buildings program.
Badger High School has already received funding for and completed the geothermal study, and the city is preparing a Solar for Public Buildings proposal with Lindstrom that will be submitted by the end of 2025.
Partnerships are the spark
The community-University partnership with ESMC is currently focused on Badger’s downtown development and strengthening regional connections with neighboring communities of Warroad and Baudette. Community meetings with residents, business owners and leaders from all three towns will be held this fall to focus on one of the follow-up projects identified by the city—the local highway project.
“The ESMC work, the highway project and the downtown development, will move at their own pace,” says Stassen. “But the clean energy projects wouldn’t have happened without ESMC. And, those clean energy projects prove that University partnerships get things done. They build momentum.”
“With all the challenges towns like mine face, all the unknowns that keep us at the edge of our seats,” says Christianson, “the need for community cooperation, for coalitions, is so important. They are, perhaps, the most important thing we can do.”
Building small town capacity
Map of ESMC projects
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