Connecting Nicollet County (CNC) is leadership program that connects people, creates awareness of resources and builds leadership throughout Nicollet County. The program began in 2010 and is a joint effort with Nicollet County and the University of Minnesota Extension Office. 

The leadership program is limited to 25 students per year and meets once a month in various cities throughout the county from September through May.   There are a total of 9 sessions.  5 of them are regional days in which the University of Minnesota Extension educators deliver presentations, provide group activities, and team building exercises to Nicollet, Brown, and Sibley cohort participants.  4 of the sessions are county days in which each county offers site tours of area businesses and has city council members,  mayors,  and business professionals speak to the current cohort participants.    Themed sessions include:

• Beginning the Leadership Journey
• Leadership through the Generations
• Enhancing Community through Collective Leadership
• Leading in a Multicultural World
• Leading through Conflict
• Leadership for the Common Good
• Visionary Leadership
• The Changing World of Agriculture
• Integrating Leadership and Celebrating the Journey

Past site tours have included:

• Mooseum (Ruth Klossner's House)
• Alumacraft Boat Company
• G&S Manufacturing
• Forst Dairy, Inc.
• Fort Ridgely Historical Site and Museum
• Fun.com
• Hewitt's Roll-a-Dock
• Lafayette Charter School
• LJP Enterprises, Inc.
• Mankato Brewery
• Minnesota Hardwoods Saw Mill
• Mankato Mortuary
• New Sweden Dairy
• Nicollet County Historical Society
• Schmidt's Meat Market
• South Central College Fire & Rescue School
• St. Peter Regional Treatment Center Museum
• St. Peter Wastewater Treatment Plant
• United Farmers Cooperative
• And many more!​​​