NEW ULM — Increasing New Ulm’s diversity and appeal to immigrants was on the mind of New Ulm City Council Tuesday.

City Council approved a request to submit a grant application to the Rural Welcoming Initiative for access to their Welcoming America program. The grant would include entrance to the program valued at $2,500, resources from RWI, and attendance at the Welcoming Interactive Conference in Dallas, Texas.

City Manager Chris Dalton said they found out about the opportunity from the Region Nine Development Cooperative, which Brown County is a part of. Dalton said this program could help New Ulm continue to develop and evolve.

“This is a program that will help us as we look moving forward,” he said. “As our population becomes more and more diverse, how we can bolster that and be a welcoming community and open up potential other opportunities? There’s no drawback to applying for this.”

Dalton said the city had been interested in programs like this before, as Region Nine has brought them information on it. When Region Nine brings opportunities, Dalton said that usually means they are beneficial. With a wide net of potential applicants, this won’t be an easy grant to get.

“Any city under 50,000 people in the whole country can apply,” Dalton said. “It’s a competitive route. Like any other grant, we’ll throw our name in the hat and see where it goes.”

This competition is a double-edged sword, as the program is designed to aid smaller cities in being more welcoming and diverse. Dalton said by entering the program, New Ulm will learn the best tried-and-true practices from similar communities across America. Though they have experience from previous programs, this is just the beginning,

“We’re in the infancy stages of it,” Dalton said. “This will help bolster the foundation that’s currently here. We have participated in the welcoming communities opportunity that was given to us. This is that next step of ‘Now that we’ve gone through that, how do we bolster our programming?'”

But progress does not come by force. Dalton said this grant would help New Ulm develop diversity and a welcoming atmosphere organically. Dalton said his background makes solving this puzzle a unique challenge for him.

“It’s always hard specifically for me because I’m from California,” he said. [Diversity] is everywhere, it’s in our nature. Here it’s ‘How do we get there?’ I don’t think New Ulm is a bad place in that regard. [The challenge is] how do we bolster them and make sure everything’s in place to potentially support immigrant workers.”

Councilman Dave Christian asked about the money needed to attend the Welcoming Interactive Conference, which is required to be a part of the program. Dalton said a $2,000 grant covering the trip’s expenses would be included if they are selected.

Christian made the motion to approve the grant submission request, with Councilman Les Schultz providing the second. The next City Council meeting is Jan. 16 at 4:30 p.m., with a work session immediately afterward.