Field Hearing with Brookings-AEI Commission on U.S. Rural Prosperity

On October 22 from 1:30-3:45pm at Grand Farm’s Innovation Campus, America’s Rural Future: Brookings-AEI Commission on U.S. Rural Prosperity will host a public event featuring local, state, and regional experts on a range of policy issues facing rural North Dakota.

Moderated by Commission Co-chairs Heidi Heitkamp and Chris Sununu, panels will explore the following themes:

• Connectivity: Powering and deploying broadband to rural communities, and the advanced technology/AI opportunities coming to North Dakota as a result.
• Access to capital: Best practices and innovative ideas for enabling and expanding access to capital.
• Future-oriented civic culture and well-being: Building communities to attract and retain population, with an emphasis on youth retention and a strong workforce.

Doors open at 1 pm. Members of the public are encouraged to attend and listen to the discussion. Refreshments will be provided.

Commission Context

America’s Rural Future: Brookings-AEI Commission on U.S. Rural Prosperity, is a bipartisan endeavor co-chaired by former Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) and former Governor Chris Sununu (R-NH), and facilitated by Tony Pipa of the Brookings Institution and Brent Orrell of the American Enterprise Institute. The commission is focused on reviewing and updating federal policy to enable rural prosperity in the 21st century by strengthening economic opportunity, resilience, and quality of life across rural America.

Informed by research symposia and in-person field hearings across a diverse swathe of rural places, the commission will publish a National Rural Strategy in the second half of 2027 to present a new vision for federal rural policy. The first field hearing and site visits will be held October 21-23, 2025 in Casselton, ND and Mahnomen, MN.

See also

Community

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