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North Dakota Living | 02/14/2012

What began in 1954 as a newsletter for rural electric farm and ranch customers is now reaching a much wider audience. The name has changed, but the magazine North Dakota Living is still bringing news and regional interest stories to homes all across the state.

"It`s just great that we`re still at it, after all these years and that`s really because our local cooperatives really place a high priority on good relationships with their members," said editor Kent Brick.

The magazine is published by the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives from their offices in north Mandan.Six people work full-time churning out the magazine, which reaches more than 91,000 customers each month.

"We find that we`ve got 15 cooperatives across the state that use North Dakota Living as a vehicle for their member news, for their local cooperative members," Brick said.

In addition to North Dakota Living, the Association markets, publishes and distributes more than 84,000 copies of the North Dakota Tourism Department`s "Legendary Travel Guide" each February. They also publish 80,000 copies of the Bismarck/Mandan Convention and Visitors Bureau "Visitor`s Guide" each spring. And Brick says they are always looking for new ways to expand the reach of North Dakota Living magazine, using the Internet and social media to share content and attract new people to the state.

"We have to be able to succeed in getting our message out effectively in several modes and then have them compliment one another."

Brick adds that while online readership is increasing, people still enjoy paging through the monthly human-interest stories, educational articles, recipes, farm and teen columns, and yes, even the advertisements. After 58 years, you can still find the faithful magazine in your mailbox.