We are the primary source for economic and policy research in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and beyond, working to ensure that our citizens and policymakers alike have the information they need to make informed decisions. We believe that Truth + Knowledge equals Power, and that the people in rural areas deserve access to these tools just as much as anyone else. Rural Insights strives to accomplish the following things: - Ensure citizens have accurate and nonpartisan information about issues that impact rural life in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and beyond. - Ensure that citizens and policymakers have the data, facts, and information to make informed decisions about the Upper Peninsula and life in this rural area. - Amplify the data and information about life in the Upper Peninsula in the halls of power and decision making at the federal, state, and local levels, as well as in the media. - Find the underlying facts about the issues that most impact the lives of residents of the Upper Peninsula. - Provide underlying facts and data so that citizens of the Upper Peninsula can draw their own conclusions and speak truth to power. - Encourage student and faculty research at Northern Michigan University on issues of importance and reality to the people of the Upper Peninsula. - Provide a forum of citizen journalism and citizen opinion that illustrates life in rural America, the Upper Peninsula, its cities, townships, and villages. Truth & knowledge equals power.