Will Lambe is the Director of the Community & Economic Development Program and the Community-Campus Partnership.
An article in today’s News & Observer profiles David Eckel, from Clayton, NC, who recently won the Great American Think-Off, a philosophy competition held in New York Mills, Minnesota (population 1,200). The Think-Off, an annual event, draws international visitors to the small community in Northern Minnesota to debate issues such as “Is democracy fair? And, is it ever wrong to do the right thing?” This year’s question, which prompted a winning argument from Mr. Eckel, was “Do the wealthy have an obligation to help the poor?”
Nearly 80 miles from any significant city, the small town of New York Mills demonstrates the potential for turning arts and culture into economic development. Through bold and forward-thinking investment by local leaders, the community created the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center in 1992. In addition to the Think-Off, the center hosts an artist-in-residency program, art exhibits, theater productions and musical performances, including international caliber events, all of which make the arts accessible to rural residents. Further, the center set off a wave of new business creation. In the first six years that the cultural center was open, 17 new businesses opened in town, creating 350 jobs.
Read more about New York Mills here.
Will Lambe authored the NC Rural Center report, Small Towns, Big Ideas, and he served as Director of the Community and Economic Development Program at the School of Government from 2009 to 2014.