| Rural communities in the Upper Midwest continue to experience economic restructuring, caused not only by area agricultural changes, but also by mining and local manufacturing shutdowns. Focusing on two states, Minnesota and North Dakota, this study details the repercussions, and response, of five rural communities to the downsizing or closure of a major employer. The five community case studies represent a range of industries in which there were employment losses, diversity in community size, proximity to other labor markets, as well as multiple and varied use of adjustment techniques local leaders used in their response to community job loss. The communities studied were selected from more than 40 communities in the two states that had experienced a... |
