Locally Grown

Tracy Davis and Griff Wigley are among the co-founders of Northfield Citizens Online (NCO)/Northfield.org.

NCO was born at an Utne Reader Neighborhood Salon at Griff’s house in December of 1991. The discussion questions for the evening: What’s the likely impact of the Internet on local community? How can it be used to strengthen a geographic community rather than undermining it like other electronic media tend to do?

A group began meeting a year or so later and eventually set up a BBS called the Northfield Free-Net, which started operation in 1994 before changing over to a web site (using the domain nco.northfield.mn.us ) in 1995. NCO was formed as a 501c3 non-profit in 1994 with the help of the Northfield Community Action Center. The Northfield.org domain name was secured in the late 90s and the site was converted to a blog in 2003. From 1996 through 2004, Griff was moderator for the Community Issue Forums that were hosted on various Northfield.org discussion platforms. He also was instrumental in launching the Northfield Civic Blogosphere project.

Some of the NCO board members in 1996 (L to R): Steve Hatle, Bob Courchaine, Bruce Morlan, Tracy Davis, Andrea Christianson, Griff Wigley, John Hatch. Not pictured: Lynne Young and George Kinney. Others who were involved in the early stages: Kent Rabehl and Dave Diehl.

Some of the NCO board members in 2000 (L to R, left photo): Bruce Morlan, Mark Heiman, Tracy Davis, Bob Courchaine, Griff Wigley, Curt Benson. (L to R, right photo from a July 19, 2000 Northfield News article by Joan Watts, photo by Chris Graff): Mark Heiman, Griff Wigley, Tracy Davis, Nick Benson, Bruce Morlan, Bob Courchaine, Curt Benson.

Some of the NCO board members in 2005 (L to R): Adam Gurno, Alex Beeby, Bruce Morlan, Rob Brown, Doug Bratland, Rick Estenson, Ellen Iverson, Jonathan Jaranson, Jan Hill.

Some of the NCO board members in 2006 (L to R): Ellen Iverson, Adam Gurno, Alex Beeby, Jan Hill, Bruce Morlan, Rick Estenson, Rob Brown, Jonathan Jaranson, Doug Bratland.

Northfield News articles:

• A week in the life of NCO: Strengthening Northfield’s civic fabric via the Internet (column by Griff Wigley, September, 1999)
• High-tech Bridge Square (article by Rachel Vogt, Northfield News Staff Writer, Summer 1998, Roads to Progress Edition