The service area of the Region Five Development Commission (R5DC) is comprised of an area that expands across five counties and one tribal nation in North Central Minnesota. This region includes Cass, Crow Wing, Morrison, Todd, and Wadena and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe reservation. Our region is a rural and small-town area with a population of 172,056 in 68,672 households spread over an area of 3,996,051 acres. The majority of the cities in the region are made up of less than 1,000 people.

 

The region is blessed with an abundance of business, industry, cultural and natural resources. Tourism and healthcare are economic drivers in the region, providing an array of career opportunities. Still an agricultural hub, the area includes a manufacturing and meat packing sector, as well as a local foods value chain. 

 

Geographically our region is unique in that three distinct environments or biomes meet. The western plains and prairies, the northern coniferous forest and eastern hardwood forest all intersect in central Minnesota. To the north encompassing the Walker, Hackensack and Longville area, there are deep pine forests, the majority of which are state and federal land. Lakes, large and small as well as the Mississippi River run through the surrounding terrain. The south and west boundaries of the region possess rich farmland and rolling hills that define the pastoral landscape.