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ROB SCHMITZ: Viroqua lies among the bluffs and fertile valleys of the winding Kickapoo River, one of the most remote regions of Wisconsin. Its geography has consistently made it one of Wisconsin's poorest regions. But in the last 10 years, isolation has brought benefits.

[CUTTING]

At the Magic Cabin Dolls workshop, an employee cuts pastel-colored cotton fabric. It will become a dress for a stuffed doll. Sarah McDonald created Magic Cabin Dolls. She came to Viroqua with her husband and two children 10 years ago to start her own business. She brought her family here from a Twin Cities suburb because she wanted the small-town life.

Her timing was perfect. Area farmers were in the depths of a farm crisis. They were desperate to get out of the region and were selling off land to the first takers. McDonald says many new families moved to the area, and they were a little different from the area's longtime residents.

SARAH MCDONALD: They're not necessarily going to the Lutheran Church in town. They're possibly more educated. They're not necessarily going to the public school. There may be more concern with ecology and the environment. Bleeding-heart liberals? Does that work? [LAUGHS]

ROB SCHMITZ: McDonald and some of her new neighbors enrolled their children in Pleasant Ridge School. It's a private alternative school in Viroqua run by the Waldorf School. The Waldorf School emphasizes spirituality and encourages students to act locally to change their world.

Since arriving to town, McDonald has changed her world considerably. Magic Cabin Dolls' profits have grown 1,500% in the last five years, successful enough to be sold off. It is one of many recent economic successes in the area.

Since 1989, Viroqua has seen 56 new businesses start up. They've created more than 150 new jobs, close to $13 million in public and private investment. That's not bad for a town of 4,000 people. Fred Nelson owns a hardware store in town. He remembers what Main Street looked like 14 years ago.

FRED NELSON: The building on the corner across the street from us, right on the main intersection, was a Coast to Coast Hardware. That was closed up. Theater was closed down. The Gamble store, which had a furniture and hardware store on the other side of the theater, was boarded up. It looked grim.

ROB SCHMITZ: That was right after Walmart came to town. In 1986, Walmart announced it was going to build its fourth Wisconsin outlet in Viroqua. Nelson had never heard of Walmart. He did some research.

He learned Walmart offered the same products he offered for a fraction of the price. In order to coexist and survive, he revamped his store and supplied it with products Walmart didn't offer. He broadened his store's electrical and plumbing supplies and expanded the store's lawn and garden department. However, Nelson says some business owners in town didn't follow his example, and within a year, five prominent downtown businesses had closed shop.

That same year, Nelson brought fellow business owners together. He convinced them to take advantage of business consulting paid for by the State of Wisconsin. They learned how to conduct market surveys and how to enhance the aesthetics of Main Street.

Now, 12 years later, the area's non-farm employment has increased four times faster than its population. Nelson says state help was a big factor in Viroqua's revitalization, but there was something bigger. He tells the story of New Richmond, Wisconsin, to illustrate what he means. 15 years ago, New Richmond lost its bid to get a Honeywell plant. After Honeywell's decision, the company president explained to New Richmond's mayor why they decided against the town. This, according to Nelson, is what Honeywell's president said.

FRED NELSON: "But unknown to you, we took several of our corporate executives, and we drove over to New Richmond and we drove through your town. And what we saw was a bunch of boarded-up storefronts, a lot of weeds growing in the sidewalks and downtown, some trash lying around downtown, just not a very attractive sight at all. What it told us is this is not a city that has pride in itself."

ROB SCHMITZ: Nelson says Viroqua has community pride. He says it comes from a mix of ideas from longtime residents and newcomers who have given new life to the area's economy.

[COW MOOING]

PAUL DEUTSCH: So it's Buttercup and Sweet Pea. That's Jane, Petunia, Mary, Daisy.

ROB SCHMITZ: 10 miles away from Viroqua, Paul Deutsch is introducing his dairy cows.

PAUL DEUTSCH: Helena.

ROB SCHMITZ: He says treating his cows like employees is important.

PAUL DEUTSCH: This is Gertie, and then you've got Betty and Stella.

ROB SCHMITZ: It may sound silly, but he names his cows because he considers them his business partners.

PAUL DEUTSCH: On this side, there's Lily and Brownie and Nona.

ROB SCHMITZ: Deutsch came to Vernon County five years ago with a dream to start an organic dairy farm.

PAUL DEUTSCH: Sunny, Maya, Jane.

ROB SCHMITZ: He and his 22 bovine employees are members of the Coulee Region Organic Produce Pool, or CROPP.

PAUL DEUTSCH: Oh, Iris, Violet, and Fiddle.

ROB SCHMITZ: CROPP started in 1988. Disillusioned by conventional farming and the difficulty of running family farms, CROPP's founders decided to try their hand at a growing niche market. It turned out to be a smart gamble. 13 years later, CROPP, known to consumers as Organic Valley, is the largest organic food cooperative in North America. Its headquarters remain just east of Viroqua, in the small town of La Farge.

CROPP has recorded around 50% sales growth in each of the past four years. Many farmers in Vernon County are CROPP members, and for good reason. Deutsch earns 25% more off of organic milk than traditional dairy farmers make.

CROPP uses traditional farming and progressive marketing strategies. This mixture of the old and the new has brought together different generations of farmers. They share ideas and make money.

Deutsch says CROPP allows area farmers much more control over the price they'll receive for milk than conventional farmers. Deutsch thinks this type of local control spills over to all facets of rural life and is a big reason why people come to Vernon County.

PAUL DEUTSCH: Most of the people I know, that I've talked to, that have come from, like, Chicago suburbs, the cities, so forth, it was the idea of a community, searching for it, that and the concept that a rural life is a better life, or is a more life that they-- a life that they have more control over.

SARAH MCDONALD: Deutsch cites examples of how this local control has been lost. His first example is conventional farming, where much of the money being made goes to an outside corporation. His second example is an obvious one for many in the region.

PAUL DEUTSCH: The Walmart is, in my opinion, is notorious for just crushing communities, because they move it all into one place and it all becomes one brand loyalty, whereas 15 to 20 businesses were doing what they are doing now in one place. What I think gets forgotten is that those 15 to 20 businesses were probably 15 to 20 families, that were supporting kids and had, you know, provided for several generations.

ROB SCHMITZ: Two years ago, Viroqua's Walmart moved across the street to a new building. It's now a Super Walmart. The business community braced itself for another Main Street fallout.

They worried another chain retailer would move into Walmart's old building. But two years later, the big box stands empty, still for sale. Rob Schmitz, Minnesota Public Radio, Viroqua.