Join the Department of Public Transformation (DoPT) at our Southwest Minnesota Activate Rural Public Workshop in Madison, MN (pop. 1,518).
This one-day workshop will provide connections for artists, creative entrepreneurs, small business owners, activators and leaders developing creative gathering places for their communities.
Participants will take away community engagement strategies, funding resource ideas, and structures for stewardship and operations for creative places.
During the workshop, attendees will hear from the following speakers:
Sarina Otaibi, DoPT Activate Rural Program Director, will lead a panel discussion with Christine Fischer, Regional Director of Southwest MN Small Business Development Center (SBDC), and Nicole DeBoer, Executive Director of Southwest Minnesota Arts Council (SMAC) about the funding opportunities and challenges that exist in Southwest Minnesota.
Kris Shelstad, Executive Director of Madison Mercantile, will share her story of building out the space, engaging the community, and providing a tour of the multi-use creative gathering place.
Luwaina Al-Otaibi, The YES! House Program Director, will share how creative places cultivate an entrepreneurial ecosystem for your community and region with examples from The YES! House in Granite Falls, MN (pop. 2,697). Information about its capital campaign journey will be shared.
Registration is required, but it is free. Food and beverages will be provided including lunch. For workshop and registration questions, please contact Courtney, Activate Rural Associate Director, at courtney@publictransformation.org.
This workshop is a part of the Activate Rural Public Workshop Series, workshops and sessions designed to offer support, peer learning, and resources to creative entrepreneurs, artists, organizations and small business owners with creative physical places of connection based in rural Minnesota communities and the Native nations that share this geography, with a population of 20,000 or less. This program is supported, in part, by the State of Minnesota through a grant from The Office of Small Business Development, Department of Employment and Economic Development.
Activate Rural Public Workshop: Southwest Minnesota
Location: Madison Mercantile | 601 1st St, Madison, MN 56256
Date + Time: Tuesday, September 15, 2026, 9 AM – 3 PM