Extension's Center for Community Vitality is here to help communities in Greater Minnesota make important choices – with programs and applied research projects that engage your entire community and provide valuable information. The Community Economics team helps communities retain and expand local businesses, know and grow the retail sector, make informed public finance decisions and develop tourism opportunities. The Leadership and Civic Engagement team helps communities strengthen social capital, encourage local leadership and create successful public forums where better decisions are made. The Tourism Center leads communities to understand whether tourism could become a strategy to diversify a local economy, and offers programs that help make tourism more successful.