Reimagine Rural | By Mike Knutson | January 13, 2010

There’s no doubt that good restaurants are important to rural communities.  They make rural communities more attractive places to live.  They often serve as “informal meeting places where community is built” (e.g., third places).  And they often improve the local economy by giving people a place to spend their money locally. 

My guess is that Reuben Wentz must appreciate the importance of a good restaurant.  The 93-year-old retired farmer recently gave $500,000 to his hometown of Napoleon, North Dakota (pop. 857) to create a new community-owned restaurant.   

The restaurant replaces the old, deteriorating building that housed the community’s previous community-owned restaurant.  It sounds like they’ve got a good thing going with the restaurant.  Its features include:

• 6,000 square feet
• New, brightly lit kitchen
• TV monitors
• Wireless mikes for presentations

It’s also home to the Logan County Economic Development Offices, which set up the foundation that manages the restaurant.  I bet many of Napoleon’s neighboring communities are envious.

It’s important to attract people

It sounds like the community is excited about the restaurant.  The Bismarck Tribune quotes foundation board member Jennifer Schumacher:

“It was such a moment of joy. I thought - I think we all thought - this is such a turning point for Napoleon,” she said. Without much debt to service, the new venture should succeed, she said.

“We have a new drug store, young people are moving in and wind towers are going up. With such a beautiful restaurant here in Napoleon, we can do it,” Schumacher said. (source: Lauren Donovan, “Napoleon benefactor builds restaurant for community” Bismark Tribune, 12-2-09) 

That’s economic development

Any community seeking to attract young people (Gen Y) has to evaluate the availability of local food services.  It’s something they look for when choosing a community to call home. 

With this in mind, I’ve been thinking about how the Napoleon might leverage this restaurant effort for further economic development.  Two thoughts have emerged:

First, what can be done to foster a true “third place” atmosphere, making it a place where people of all ages and backgrounds meet for conversation?  We know that conversation between people of varying backgrounds in third places can lead to greater community trust (e.g. bridging social capital).  But third places don’t magically emerge.  They take thoughtful consideration and effort.

Second, could the community-owned restaurant be leveraged to create a local foods initiative?  Perhaps, they could make a commitment to buying locally raised foods.  The kitchen could also be a “shared use kitchen” that helps entrepreneurs develop new food products. 

Both of those ideas will take more effort and possibly more financial capital.  They may or may not be right for Napoleon.  But rural communities need to think like this to maximize their economic development efforts. 

Small towns also need people like Reuben Wentz who are willing to invest in their community’s future. 

http://reimaginerural.com/reinventing-restaurants-and-rural-communities/