Describes rural northwestern Minnesota's employment problem and the local employment and manpower programs, focusing on Rural Minnesota CEP (Concentrated Employment Program), the balance-of-state program, and the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) program. It is noted that the nature of the land and people and the distances to be…

This article, based on a research project covering rural employment and youth programs, examines success and failure of various federal public job programs, concluding that the programs generally have not provided rural workers with needed employable skills. (MF)