When we were thinking about the kinds of people we wanted to talk to for this Moments of Growth series, we knew we needed to include people who have been impacted in some way by the work we do at Growing Small Towns.    Some of these guests use Growing Small Towns in an official capacity—they have a formal role in economic or community development, or something similar, and have utilized our programming professionally. Others are members of our local school board, have engaged with us on a personal level, or for a small business. However their involvement, though, we treasure these thoughts and words from the people we serve, and we hope you’ll enjoy this episode!    In this episode, we hear from: 

• Anna Sell - Superintendent of Oakes Public School
• Sonia Meehl - former Oakes Public School board member
• Matt Marshall - Member Services, Rates & Economic Development Manager at Minnkota
• Ashley Berg - owner of Main Street Boutique in Rugby, ND 
• Bob Wurl - board member for Southern Valley Economic Development Association
• Justin Meidinger - Director, Ellendale Opera House
• Dawn Mandt - Executive Director of Red River Regional Council
• Justin Neppl - former Economic Development Director for Southern Valley Economic Development Association
• Roberta Forward - board member for North Dakota Grapegrower's Association, Riding for Dreams, and Oakes PTO Chapter 
• Jeremy Nelson - founder, Arthur Market
• Melissa Beach - Economic Development Administrator, Minnkota

  Links and Resources Mentioned: Oakes Public School: https://www.oakes.k12.nd.us/ Minnkota Power Cooperative: https://www.minnkota.com/ Main Street Boutique in Rugby, ND: https://mainstreetboutiquerugby.com/ Southern Valley Economic Development Association: https://www.facebook.com/Southernvalleyeda/ Ellendale Opera House: http://www.ellendaleoperahouse.com/ Red River Regional Council: https://redriverrc.com/ North Dakota Grapegrower's Association: https://www.ndgwa.org/ Riding For Dream: https://www.ridingfordreams.com/ Oakes PTO: https://www.oakes.k12.nd.us/families/parent-teacher-organization Arthur Market: https://www.thearthurmarketnd.com/ Episode 21 with Ashley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f503Im7Q3i4 Episode 135 with Jeremy: https://www.growingsmalltowns.org/post/episode135