A New Growth Industry

The Setting

With the transition from traditional family farmsteads to specialized crop production on larger farms, communities in southwestern Minnesota were faced with the loss of an important part of their heritage. But residents weren’t ready to let their legacy go, and they gradually created a web of farm heritage attractions. The question now was how to attract people to this rural area of Minnesota to stay, enjoy the area’s heritage and spend money.

What Happened Next

A group of museum managers, business owners, and economic development coordinators from a five-county area created the Western Minnesota Prairie Waters Tourism Coalition, a volunteer organization. In 1999, the Upper Minnesota Valley Regional Development Commission conducted two tourism-related studies which showed the current success of tourism and its potential for growth. The studies provided the credibility needed to interest local officials who appropriated funds for staffing and operations. From there, action steps were undertaken:

• Conducting two conferences to explore the interest of local farmers in agritourism.
• Production of a brochure featuring local farms and other agricultural attractions.
• Advertising the region with a focus on agritourism.
• Surveying visitors on their experiences.

Results

• The Minnesota Scenic Byway, which encompasses these five counties and several others, formed in 1995 and developed a corridor management plan with the primary interpretive theme “Food to a Nation.”
• The Prairie Waters Coalition developed plans to expand its marketing.
• Prairie Waters also developed methods for monitoring and evaluating the program and providing regular reports to elected officials.

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