ABOUT THE UMVRDC
The Upper Minnesota Valley Regional Development Commission (UMVRDC) is one of nine regional development commissions in MN (http://www.mnado.org/ ) that were created and authorized by MN State statutes in 1969 to provide planning and technical assistance to units of government. The UMVRDC serves a five-county region that includes Big Stone, Swift, Chippewa, Lac qui Parle and Yellow Medicine County. It has a board that is made up of elected officials from cities, counties, townships, school districts, tribal governments and public interest representatives. There are 10 professional staff with expertise in finance, management, community planning and marketing.
Services provided by the UMVRDC include transportation, economic development, and recreation planning; development of city or county comprehensive plans; grant writing and administration for a wide range of governmental services (infrastructure, broadband, housing and commercial rehabilitation, recreation and other public facilities); and has a gap financing program that provides business lending. The RDC also manages several marketing programs including Western Minnesota Prairie Waters, MN River Valley Scenic Byway, and the Meander Art Crawl. Learn more about the UMVRDC at https://umvrdc.org/
ELIGIBILITY
Students must be enrolled in a post-secondary educational institution in the planning and community development field. Student must have current drivers license.
INTERNSHIP SCOPE OF WORK
Intern will be exposed to general RDC programs and projects and will be included in any office-wide functions. This may include participating in staff meetings, RDC board meetings, staff outings.
Intern will be asked to participate in the MN Economic Development Foundation (MEDF) LINK (Leading Interns Network Knowledge) online and in person meetings. https://mnedf.org/internships/
1. Update Developable Properties Database – The intern will reach out to local points of contact to update information about commercial and industrial properties that are for sale or lease in our region as well as remove properties that are no longer on the market. This information will be updated in the LOIS (site selector) database, which is then auto-populated into MN DEED’s site selector database and our Prairie Waters Site Selector webpage mapping tool (prairiewaters.com/site-selector/). The purpose of this task is to provide a means for promoting our region’s underutilized properties to potential developers and/or businesses. In addition to updating the inventory, the intern will produce promotional graphics (Developable Property Spotlights) for select properties to be regularly shared on social media.
2. Update and enhance our regional housing development inventory – This inventory provides a summary of developable residential lots as well as any current development incentives. In addition to updating this inventory, we’ve started a list of housing contractors (construction, electrician, concrete, plumbing, landscaping, etc.) and services (banks, insurance, interior design, etc.) that residents can access if they are looking to build or remodel a home in our region. Intern will also assist with the development of at least one housing case study to share the story of successful local housing projects in our region.
3. Content creation for the Meander Art Crawl – The intern will reach out to the Meander Artists and set up appointments with 4-5 artists to do a short interview and get journalism-style photos of the artists in their studio. The intern will edit and catalog the photos, write up captions and create a short paragraph to be used on social media and on the Meander website.
4. In addition to the above tasks, the intern will be exposed to other rural community development projects that the UMVRDC is currently working on. There will be an opportunity to assist with community survey work as we update our region’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) and as we look to work with one of our small communities in developing a housing needs assessment to assist with prioritizing local housing strategies.
Other duties/expectations:
- Attend Monday morning staff meetings and newspaper reviews.
- Attend the June 23rd RDC board meeting to introduce yourself to our board.
- Attend the July 28th annual meeting tour and day of events.
- Attend MN Economic Development Foundation (MEDF) LINK (Leading Interns Network Knowledge) For reference, here are last year’s dates/sessions:
- June 11 | 9:00 – 11:00 AM | Zoom: Topics: introductions; background on Foundation and LINK program; Economic Development Professional Paths (presentation from 7 economic developers showcasing the variety of Ec. Dev. Careers)
- July 9 | 9:00 – 11:00 AM | Zoom: Topics: intern updates; success stories from previous LINK interns; responses to questions generated by interns
- August 15th | 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM; In person at The Ledge Amphitheater, Waite Park . Wrap-up in person session; presentations from interns on their internship; presentation from host city of a cool (yet to be determined) economic development project. Lunch will be provided.
5. Schedule time with other UMVRDC staff for approx. 30 minutes per topic on different days to learn more about the RDC’s programs and projects
TIMEFRAME
Estimated to be 3 days per week for 12 weeks between May – August. Office hours are Mon- Thursday 8am-4:30pm and Friday 8am to 2pm. Schedule can be flexible and will be arranged upon hire.
PAY
$15- 20/hour depending on experience.
CONTACT
Interested candidates should submit a cover letter and resume to Dawn Hegland, UMVRDC Executive Director dawn.hegland@umvrdc.org .
Cover letter and resume should highlight coursework and experience in rural community development, urban and regional planning, communication skills including creative and professional writing, creative design/graphic arts/photography.
