WCI wishes you a spook-tacular Halloween!

Nonprofits invited to apply for summer '08 internship grants

The Partnership Internship Program (PIP), coordinated by the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs (HECUA), provides internship grants to 20 nonprofit agencies in Minnesota, North Dakota, and northwestern Wisconsin. Each recipient organization hires an undergraduate student who manages a project designed by the agency. With this grant, interns are paid to work full time for 400 hours or 10 weeks during the summer. Twenty nonprofit organizations will be awarded PIP grants for summer 2008; applications are due Nov. 27. For more information, including an application guide, go to www.hecua.org/pip.php.

Congratulations Nancy Vyskocil!

The board of directors from one of WCI's sister foundations, Northwest Minnesota Foundation (NMF), has named Nancy Vyskocil as NMF's next president. She was selected from a national pool of candidates through a five-month review process. She will begin serving as president in January 2008.

Nancy has served since 2001 as the chief financial officer and vice president of the Lake Region Electric Cooperative in Pelican Rapids. In this position she has been an active member of the WCI-sponsored Labor Force Development Council and is currently its chair. She has also worked on other special projects with WCI.

"I am excited about the opportunities that lay ahead with the Northwest Minnesota Foundation," Nancy said of her new position. "I look forward to being part of the team finding positive solutions for the [northwest Minnesota] region."

The WCI staff extend congratulations and best wishes to Nancy and look forward to working with her as a colleague of the Minnesota Initiative Foundations.

Will state's capital move to west central Minnesota?

Minnesota communities will vie for the honorary title of "Capital for a Day" in May 2008 as part of Minnesota's 150th celebration.

Residents will nominate and vote via the Sesquicentennial Web site for the five cities that will represent Minnesota's five geographical areas. West central Minnesota is in the prairie grasslands and deciduous forest zones of the state.

To vote for your favorite west central Minnesota town, county, region, reservation or township, visit http://www.mn150years.org/.

No such thing as a bad kid

Sometimes it's easy to label certain folk--kids and adults--as bad eggs. But nationally known speaker and youth care specialist Charlie Appelstein, MSW, is adamant that there's no such thing as a bad kid and is spreading the news that misbehavior is a cry for help and can be changed.

On Nov. 14, Appelstein will present " 'No Such Thing as a Bad Kid' The Power of a Strength-based Approach in Reshaping the Lives of Troubled Children & Youth" at the Lakeside Ballroom. Cost is $15 and includes lunch. Clock hours are available.

The event is sponsored by HELP (Helping Everyone Live In Peace) Council and the Pope County Early Childhood/THRIVE Initiative.

Learn more and register today!

Sunrise session in Pope County

If it's Wednesday, it must be a community breakfast.

For the third week in a row, WCI staff headed out in the wee hours to host a town meeting. This time about 25 folks from all around Pope County met at the Village Inn in Glenwood to talk about their communities.

The lack of a county jail and the recent breakdown in talks with Stevens County about a joint jail/law enforcement center were hot topics, as was concern about the area's infrastructure--water, sewer and cell phone and/or Internet access.

Employers talked about the barriers to getting positions filled: lack of housing and daycare in the area, and few skilled workers. Local industries are tackling this. "We just want people who want to work, and we'll train them," one employer said. This was true for manufacturers, healthcare facilities and other businesses represented around the table. WCI has helped several area employers with their training programs through its Workforce 2020 grants. Businesses are also working with local high schools to get students exposed to and interested in the kinds of work available in the area.

Child care is a growing issue.

"If you don't have quality child care, it's tough for workers to come in and do quality work," said Jeannie Pederson, Pope County Early Childhood and Thrive coordinator.

"(Lack of) day care can cost us 10 percent of worker hours," an employer added.

Pederson discussed the work that Thrive was accomplishing. She invited those gathered to attend a Nov. 14 presentation in Glenwood by Charlie Appelstein on "No Such Thing as a Bad Kid."

Some talked about the opportunities that this area has to offer--a beautiful location, available jobs, newer schools, the early childhood coalition--and challenged the area's communities to think of doing more together, like a joint chamber of commerce between Starbuck and Glenwood, and combining forces to tackle infrastructure issues.

WCI holds several of these community meetings throughout west central Minnesota each year. Want to know when we'll be in your area? Contact Kim Embretson to find out.

It's Manufacturers' Week, Oct. 22-26

Ever see that commercial where all plastic products suddenly start to disappear? The gist of the ad is to get people to realize how many things in our day-to-day life are made out of plastic. Have everything made by manufacturers disappear and you might be left with the lopsided mug your kid made in art class and an apple on your desk. Oh, wait. There wouldn't be a desk.

So, it's appropriate to take a week and say thanks to the manufacturers who not only make the things we need, but rank second in jobs in our region, about 14 percent of total regional employment. And they pay better than most other industries as well. Several towns are hosting manufacturer appreciation events throughout west central Minnesota. See if you can catch one.