This week I interviewed I interviewed former Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire and former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota about the issues facing rural America. The pair are co-chairing the Brookings/AEI Commission on US Rural Prosperity, a bipartisan initiative to promote a more resilient rural economy.
They’ll be in Minnesota on Thursday, Oct. 23 visiting the White Earth Reservation and holding an event in Mahnomen.
In my Tuesday column, I talked about the vexing issues that both of them have wrestled with for years, familiar to all of us who live in rural places.
The economic problems go beyond jobs; we need people to do jobs. Health care already was a mess, but for rural America the problem threatens a frightening shortage of care. Rapidly expanding new technology, a lack of human connection and aging demographics are also familiar issues to most of us.
What do we need? People. With people, we can solve a lot of problems.
Read “As rural America’s challenges grow old, new efforts are needed,” in the Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2025 edition of the Minnesota Star Tribune.
Aaron J. Brown is a columnist and member of the editorial board for the Minnesota Star Tribune. His new book about Hibbing Mayor Victor Power and his momentous fight against the world’s largest corporation will be out soon.
