Morris COPC Partnership - Adapting to Change: Managing Urbanization in Rural America

Helping Minnesota communities plan their future with grassroots involvement, volunteerism and quality design...

The Minnesota Design Team was born of ideals and dreams in the early 1980s. Originally conceived by a small group of architecture and landscape architecture students interested in town planning and design, the Design Team today is a well established and respected group of volunteer professionals. The Design Team assists communities in planning and designing a viable, appropriate future. The Design Team works not only with design issues like main street improvements, but also with the fundamental planning process that allows communities to take the initiative in continuing to plan a future that reflects the dreams and interests of the community.

Our Mission:
To use design to help small Minnesota communities develop a shared vision of a healthy future.
To accomplish this, the Minnesota Design Team has three objectives -

Information was taken from the Design Team website, http://www.minnesotadesignteam.org/

The Chamber is committed to involvement in and promotion of the community and activities that occur within it.

The Morris Area Chamber of Commerce collectively represents the business, professional, educational and agricultural interests of the Morris area to advance the economic and civic well being of the community. Morris is a rural community on the prairie of West Central Minnesota. It is a place to live, do business, and have fun with both family and friends. With an approximate population of 5,200, Morris is located 165 miles northwest of Minneapolis/St. Paul and 100 miles southeast of Fargo/Moorhead. Three state and federal highways pass through the community. The city of Morris is governed by a mayor and four council members, with a city-appointed manager. It also serves as the county seat for Stevens County. When meeting new challenges and taking advantage of opportunities, we need to be working with unified efforts. The Chamber is the vehicle through which we can make things happen.

Our Mission:
The purpose of the Morris Area Chamber of Commerce is to maximize a progressive business community, while enhancing community pride.

Morris Area Chamber of Commerce
507 Atlantic Avenue
Morris, MN 56267
320-589-1242

Information was taken from the Morris Area Chamber of Commerce website, http://www.morrismnchamber.org/

Welcome to Morris, where country charm meets urban convenience.

We are a city of 5,200 on the west central plains of Minnesota. Morris is proud of the educational facilities that can be found here. Starting with the very young we have an excellent preschool for children ages 3-5. In addition, Community Education provides opportunity for many Early Childhood activities. The citizens of Morris realize the importance of education and voted to build a new Elementary School, which opened the fall of 2005. We have an excellent High School and students have an opportunity to attend The University of Minnesota, Morris, which is a nationally recognized Liberal Arts college. The students at UMM are an excellent resource for our community and we appreciate all that they bring to the community.

Information was taken from the City of Morris website, http://www.ci.morris.mn.us/

The Center is helping to create a network for ideas and resources to flow within communities.

The Center for Small Towns is a community outreach program housed at the University of Minnesota, Morris (UMM) and serves as a point-of-entry to the resources of the University of Minnesota. Small towns, local units of government, K-12 schools, non-profit organizations, and other University units are able to utilize the Center's resources as they work on rural issues or make contributions to rural society. The 21st century will bring enormous challenges and opportunities to rural Minnesota and its many small communities. By working cooperatively, the University of Minnesota and small towns in the region can find new ways to successfully transition through this period of rapid change.

Our Mission:
To focus the University's attention and marshal its resources toward assisting Minnesota's small towns with locally identified issues by creating applied learning opportunities for faculty and students.

Center for Small Towns
University of Minnesota, Morris
600 E. 4th Street
Morris, MN 56267
(320) 589-6451

Information was taken from the Center for Small Towns website, http://www.morris.umn.edu/services/cst/index.htm

UMM offers the best of both in the world of higher education—a small, close-knit campus complemented by the power of a world-renowned research University system.

The University of Minnesota, Morris (UMM) is recognized as one of the best public liberal arts colleges in the nation because of its instructional excellence, its commitment to research, its numerous extracurricular programs and services, and its strong sense of community. UMM's mission as a rigorous, undergraduate, residential, liberal arts college is distinctive within the University of Minnesota. The Morris campus shares the University's mission of teaching, research, and outreach. UMM provides undergraduate students with the resources of the University of Minnesota, yet it is a small personal school where students can shape their own education. The campus serves undergraduate students from Minnesota, and across the nation, and is a highly valued educational resource and cultural center for residents of West Central Minnesota. UMM attracts and serves a student body, faculty and staff reflective of our multicultural society. The college empowers the campus community to participate fully and thoughtfully in a diverse society, regionally, nationally, and globally.

University of Minnesota, Morris
600 E. 4th Street
Morris, MN 56267
(320) 589-6451

Information was taken from the University of Minnesota, Morris website, http://www.morris.umn.edu/about/

As the first of its kind in the nation, the Center for Rural Design brings design as a problem-solving process to rural land issues.

The Center for Rural Design (CRD) is an intercollegiate center organized in the summer of 1997 by the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture and the College of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences at the University of Minnesota. The objective of CRD is to focus expertise in these two colleges, as well as other centers and colleges within the University of Minnesota, on diverse physical, social, and economic problems facing rural Minnesota. As the first of its kind in the nation, the Center for Rural Design brings design as a problem-solving process to rural land issues. Design is a methodology for integrating issues to resolve a problem, and as an interdisciplinary effort, it can bring synergism to the creative process.

Our Mission:
The mission of the Center for Rural Design is to work with people to preserve, improve, and protect rural landscapes, cultures and communities through innovative design strategies.

Information was taken from the Center for Rural Design website, http://ruraldesign.coafes.umn.edu/purpose.htm