Michigan
Rural Michiganders face housing, broadband and workforce challenges, report says ⋆ Michigan Advance
The Michigan Office of Rural Prosperity (ORP) has released the Michigan Roadmap to Rural Prosperity, a 71-page report that details challenges that rural communities across Michigan face and strategies to help address them.
The ORP, under the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO), was founded in 2022 as the Office of Rural Development. It was later renamed the Office of Rural Prosperity in 2023.
The office was created as a response to the unique needs that rural communities have and the challenges they face around issues like housing, broadband, infrastructure, economic development and health care access, ORP Director Sarah Lucas said.
“The Office of Rural Prosperity is one of just a handful of state offices that are focused on rural prosperity. There’s about six of us in the country and not many states have a comprehensive strategy like this, targeted specifically at rural communities,” Lucas said. “It is very unique and I think it’s a really important opportunity for the state to kind of come together around the needs that rural communities are experiencing.”
According to the Roadmap of Rural Prosperity released last month, rural Michigan is home to 20% of the state’s population and makes up nearly 94% of the state’s land area.
“Rural Michigan encompasses Michigan’s 12 federally recognized tribes, more than 1,400 local governments, and 70 counties considered rural or mostly rural,” the report reads. “With over two-thirds of school districts and 21 colleges and universities located in rural areas of the state, rural Michigan is instrumental in preparing the future workforce.”
The roadmap aims to provide an understanding of rural needs and priorities and help guide local, regional and state leaders in “advancing collaborative and collective action to achieve prosperity across rural Michigan,” according to a press release from the LEO. The ORP defines rural prosperity as “resilient, connected rural residents, communities, and natural environments.”
Lucas said the idea for the roadmap started after hearing consistent concerns among rural community members. She said the ORP thought it would be beneficial if there was an understanding of how policy, programs and resources might impact some of the issues that were being discussed.
“I would say that the listening process began in April of 2022 and we’ve never really stopped that,” Lucas said. “That’s really a major function of our office is to be closely engaged with rural communities so that we understand what they’re experiencing and then making sure that our partners within state government and outside of state government have a shared understanding of what those experiences are.”
The ORP received input from rural residents and community leaders through several different engagement efforts, including a listening tour that reached 58 counties, a 2023 statewide survey that got 2,489 responses, rural leadership summits, local and regional discussions and topic-based roundtables.
According to the roadmap, those who responded to the 2023 Rural Priorities and Perspectives Survey said the biggest challenges facing the rural community over the next 10 years are: increasing housing opportunities, attracting a larger working-age population, changes to the cost of living, managing population growth and development and retaining workforce.
Housing is the most cited critical issue facing rural communities statewide, followed by workforce challenges, the roadmap states.
The seven strategies the roadmap presents to help address these issues are:
- Growing and diversifying the workforce across sectors.
- Improving individual health and economic well-being.
- Supporting local and regional capacity to deliver services.
- Expanding quality and attainable housing opportunities.
- Building and maintaining resilient infrastructure.
- Enhancing regionally driven and place-based economic development efforts.
- Protecting and conserving natural assets.
Now that the roadmap is published, the ORP will be using it as a way to “frame conversations,” Lucas said. She said this is an opportunity to share resources and “best practices” so that communities trying to implement the ideas outlined in the report have the support and connections to be successful.
“We’ll be actually talking to a lot of groups over the next several months about the roadmap and how it might look in terms of local and regional initiatives, in terms of statewide initiatives,” she said. “It’s really going to be, in some senses, a conversation starter and a vehicle through which we can collaborate with other agencies and with other kinds of partners, both within and outside the state of Michigan.”
So far, people have said the roadmap reflects the experiences they’ve had living and working in rural Michigan, Lucas said.
“Even in the last couple weeks, since it’s been released, there’s already just been a lot of really great opportunities that have come out of it to integrate it into local, regional and statewide action,” she said.
Michigan Roadmap to Rural Prosperity_Report FINAL
HOLLAND, MI – Locals flocked to downtown Holland Monday night for a sneak peek at a mystery thriller filmed in the town’s iconic tulip fields.
‘Holland,’ directed by Mimi Cave, was mostly filmed in Tennessee, but some scenes were filmed in and around the authentic Dutch windmill at the city’s historic Windmill Island.
Over 500 people attended the sold-out screening of the new film at Knickerbocker Theatre, 86 E Eighth St., on Monday, March 24.
‘Holland’ director to host free hometown screening for Michigan-set thriller film
“It was a lot of research missions with Mimi coming to Holland in the beginning to see families, homes — people who actually live here and are Dutch,” said JC Molina, production designer of the new film. “It was really important for us and my team to recreate these sets because we weren’t able to shoot it here and to give it that authenticity and respect that it really deserves.”
The one-hour and 48-minute movie follows Nancy Vandergroot, a seemingly ordinary teacher and homemaker played by Nicole Kidman, whose picture-perfect life in Holland during the early 2000s is turned upside down when she and her colleague (Gael García Bernal) become suspicious of a secret, only to discover that nothing in their lives is what it seems.
Mayor Nathan Bocks, who moderated a Q&A with Cave and Molina following the free screening, said the film will be great exposure for those who’ve never been to the area.
“What everybody needs to remember is it’s not a documentary, it’s not about the city of Holland, but it happens to take place here,” Bocks said. “One of the great things about Holland is it’s a community that has a personality. We’ve got a long, rich history, and I think that shines through in the movie.”
Despite being only partially filmed in Holland, the movie captures the city’s small-town charm by featuring events like Tulip Time, showcasing the local high school and incorporating scenes near the Holland Peanut Store and other long-standing local shops.
For Holland resident Kendal Southworth, the excitement lies in seeing how the filmmakers incorporated the beloved spots around town.
“The movie did a great job capturing Holland and some of its funny quirks, and I was very impressed,” Southworth said. “There was a line in there about, ‘This is Holland, not Allegan,’ which was hilarious. There was a lot of laughter, a lot of reaction. You could tell that it hit home for a lot of people, especially the people who were born and raised here.”
But some viewers, like Paul Kleinheksel, 84, weren’t so impressed with the film.
Kleinheksel walked into the theatre with high hopes of how Holland would be portrayed but left disappointed.
“It was interesting, for sure,” he said. “Looking at the credits, it was mostly filmed in Tennessee, which everyone knew. ‘Why Holland?’ They have a few scenes at the windmill, but nothing quite captured our town. They chose to use the name of our town and put it on a movie with big-name actors, but it was disappointing.”
“Holland” streams nationwide on Prime Video on March 27. It initially premiered at the March 7-15 SXSW (South by Southwest) Film & TV Festival in Austin, Texas.
Cave told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press that the film captures the hospitality of upper midwestern suburbia while weaving in unexpected twists and turns.
“It’s a really entertaining storyline,” she said. “My hope is people can sit back and enjoy it — not think too much and really be enveloped in the world we’ve created.”
Mayor Bocks shared a similar sentiment. While the film is a murder mystery, Bocks assures viewers that such events are not a regular occurrence in Holland.
Bocks, a resident of Holland, encourages those who have seen the film to visit the city and experience its true character firsthand.
“The fact that I didn’t actually grow up here, I can see some of the quirkiness that those who’ve lived their entire lives here might not see,” he said. “That’s one of the things that makes it such an incredible place to live. I think people are going to find this is an absolutely fabulous place, the most wonderful place in the world.”
Want more Grand Rapids-area news? Bookmark the local Grand Rapids news page or sign up for the free “3@3 Grand Rapids” daily newsletter.
Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has approved $150,000 in grants to 28 animal shelters with this year’s Animal Welfare Fund grants.
The Animal Welfare Fund is among the five choices that Michigan taxpayers have for voluntary donations via state income tax checkoff programs. The intention of that fund is to “help finance the costs for protecting and caring for animals that have been subjected to cruelty or neglect.” All of the donations designated through the state income tax forms goes directly to the cause.
Since 2010, state officials have directed more than $2 million to over 333 animal shelters.
“MDARD has seen a steady increase in the number of animal welfare projects seeking funding through the Animal Welfare Fund and in the amount of funds being requested,” said State Veterinarian Nora Wineland, DVM, MS, DACVPM.
Applications are due in the fall for the annual awards.
For this year’s grant cycle, state officials received 65 applications totaling more than $710,000 in requests. The projects and efforts included community engagement efforts, supporting access to microchip scanners to help return lost pets and children’s programs on responsible pet ownership.
The grant list issued Monday includes the following Southeast Michigan agencies:
- Bloomfield Township Animal Shelter: $3,055.
- Detroit Animal Care & Control: $8,000.
- Eastpointe Police Animal Control Division: $3,000.
- Friends for Animals of Metro Detroit: $3,000.
- Friends of Companion Animals (Monroe County): $4,000.
- Lincoln Park Animal Shelter: $5,000
- Macomb County Animal Shelter: $7,400.
- Port Huron Police Department Animal Shelter: $2,000.
- The Ferndale Cat Shelter: $4,000.
For information on the Animal Welfare Fund, go to michigan.gov.
Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz and former Big 12 player of the year Marcus Morris Sr. react to the Spartans 71-63 victory over the Lobos in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Video Transcript
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.
Michigan State starts slow but ends up pulling away and they get a big win over New Mexico.
Marcus Morris Senior, I’m Jason Fitz.
Let’s break it down.
Michigan State wins 71 to 63, and Marcus, I feel like we’ve been talking about this for about a week.
It’s not any one player for Michigan State.
It’s the sum of the parts that continues to dominate and it makes them a tough out, particularly in the second half of games.
You said it correct.
The bench came and delivered 36 points from the bench.
Man, that’s a lot, bro.
I’m telling you, if they can get this production in the tournament, they have a real chance of going to the Final Four.
The bench almost had more than half the points in this game, man, if not all, if not half.
And, and I didn’t think coming into this tournament that they could survive a terrible night for Jase Richardson.
And that was tonight.
He couldn’t buy a bucket.
Even Izzo admitted that after the game.
I’m surprised to see JaceP so low on the overall box score and such a small part of the game and still see them find a way to pull away.
It just speaks to the fact that they have next man up mentality in the way that they built this entire roster.
Definitely they death is killer, man, you know.
We all know that Michigan State hang their hat on defense and we knew that it would be the point of time in this tournament where they couldn’t score, but they had a good senior guard play.
Jaden Aiken stepped up with a close game around 7 minutes and hit a big 3, and I felt like the lead just opened up for Michigan State.
Yeah, now they’re gonna get the 6 seed Ole Miss.
What do you think?
Ole Miss is playing really well.
Michigan State.
Surprisingly, man, they can win games without scoring the ball, it’s gonna be hard to beat this team.
Yeah, well, keep one thing in mind.
Michigan State is headed to the Sweet 16, and this is also a Sweet 16 for Izzo, as it is his 16th Sweet 16 appearance that is a level of dominance that we may never know again.
That is absolutely incredible by him.
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