Embrace the FUTURE!

The Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities Project in Akeley

Help us create the future for businesses and your community in four ways.

MIRC

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

EXTENSION

Driven to Discover™

Doing business on the Internet should not be complicated or terribly time-consuming. It is essential that businesses and communities connect to customers, suppliers, visitors, potential residents and employees. Nothing less than the economic vitality of your business and community depends on embracing the future and figuring out how best to utilize your on-line opportunities.

In an increasingly global and mobile marketplace people get their information from places like Google on the Internet. Extension is here to help rural business communities embrace the future and use the power of the Internet to:

·                      Reach new customers and stay better connected with current customers.

·                      Market the community as well as individual businesses.

·                      Sell more products and services - not just . locally, but across the globe.

·                      Provide more effective and responsive customer service of all kinds.

·                      Improve internal operations.

·                      Enhance the quality of life in your community.

Extension's expertise and workshops can help you and your community. Get involved.

Connect. Plan. Learn. Do.

HOW CAN YOU GET INVOLVED?

CONNECT

Share your experiences about doing business on the Internet with others in town - the positive and negative.

Connect with others who have businesses like yours. Find out what they're doing.

Fill out the MIRC business survey to help us understand how the Akeley business community is currently using the Internet to succeed.

Work with your community's local coordinator and be part of the MIRC Extension steering committee.

PLAN

Tell us your hopes and plans for your business. Extension educators want to design opportunities that will help your business.

Become part of the MIRC Extension steering committee. The steering committee is planning educational opportunities and creating long-term goals for what your intelligent rural community will look like.

Help us build ideas for ways that Akeley can become more of a vibrant community once again. Downtown Wi-Fi? An Internet mentoring program? Plan to make new things happen in Akeley, and plan for a vital, connected community.

LEARN

Attend educational workshops offered by Extension over the next eighteen months. You'll discover simple ways for your business to have a presence on line.

Be willing to bring technical assistance to your business to get you started.

Attend MIRC activities to learn how community support can make a difference.

DO

If you have skills and resources that can help other Akeley businesses get on line, we need your help!

Volunteer to make MIRC a success in Akeley.

Contact:

Peg Davies MIRC/Extension Local Coordinator pld@arvig.net

(218) 652-2139 or 252-1541

Susanne Hinrichs MIRC/Extension Community Liaison Brainerd Regional Office hinri110@umn.edu

(218) 851-5768

Hans Muessig MIRC/Extension Program Director hmuessig@umn.edu

(763) 360-0993

FACE THE FUTURE

Akeley's businesses need to reach visitors, shoppers, suppliers and future community members anywhere, any time.

The future is now:

·                      People's first impression of Akeley now happens long before they reach our city limits.

What first impression are you making on line?

·                     Customers and suppliers rely on the Internet to figure out where to do business. Can they rely on you to be there?

·                     Many people use handheld phones or devices to find information or locate businesses.

Are they finding you?

·                     45 seconds - that's how long people take to decide whether to explore a town or a business on the web.

What do they see in those 45 seconds?

·                     Your community can work together to learn to market your businesses and attract people to Akeley using technology.

Extension and other MIRC resources are ready to help you work the plan.

How will you succeed in the future?

ABOUT THE MINNESOTA INTELLIGENT RURAL COMMUNITIES PROJECT

MIRC is a coalition of nine statewide partners funded in large part through an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant. The work of the coalition focuses on bringing the full promise of broadband technologies to rural Minnesota communities, businesses and people. The Blandin Foundation of Grand Rapids, Minnesota serves as the project administrator. The University of Minnesota Extension is part of this effort and is focused on helping rural business communities learn how to market their businesses on the internet and to use the internet as an additional marketing tool in their already existing complement of marketing strategies.

Published by The Extension Center for Community Vitality.

The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.