CEDA

Article by: Courtney Bergey

1. A lawn mower engine.
2. A decorative wood burning tool.
3. A 3-D printer.

Article by: Marty Walsh

A new map being developed by the Fillmore County EDA aims to increase exposure to the county’s many outdoor recreation amenities for tourists and residents alike.

The new map, which is planned to be available on-line in time for Spring outdoors season, will allow users to see whatever combination of recreational activities they are interested in by turning off and on different layers of data. Currently, there is no map that combines the many Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, County, Municipal and Private recreational opportunities in one place.

The Project was suggested by Marty Walsh, who serves the Fillmore County EDA, and is being developed in partnership with the County Geographic Information Systems (GIS) coordinator, Danea Murphy, as well as assistance from Graduate Students from the St. Mary’s University of Minnesota (Winona) GIS Department.

“This map will fill a void we have in our county. The map will be a great tool for our residents and visitors to enjoy recreation they may not have known existed” said Lanesboro Mayor Autumn Johnson, when discussing the value the map brings to both tourism and quality of life in the county.

As the project is developed, CEDA hopes the model can be used to highlight the recreational amenities in many of the communities that the organization serves.

Article by: Megan DeRouchey

On November 21, 2017, AcenTek, the voice, video and internet provider out of Houston, MN, was awarded a $2 million grant from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) to extend fiber broadband access to Rushford Village and the rural Rushford area. The CEDA grant writing team was able to play an instrumental role in securing this funding by drafting AcenTek’s Boarder to Boarder Broadband Grant application. CEDA utilized their grant writing services to facilitate a valuable partnership between CEDA staff members and AcenTek.

The total grant dollar amount awarded was $2,011,628.  Last year, CEDA partnered with AcenTek and was awarded $1.78 million to bring fiber-optic cable to the Lanesboro area.  To-date, the $2 million dollar grant has been the largest grant written by CEDA.

The Rushford Village/rural Rushford project was the second largest grant awarded by the state to improve broadband services. This project will allow AcenTek to extend fiber broadband services to the rural Rushford area.  AcenTek’s project is a great example of a public-private partnership–the State of Minnesota is contributing $2,011,628, Fillmore County is providing a 0% interest loan in the amount of $75,000, and AcenTek is picking up the remaining $3 million through private investment, for a total project investment of $5.2 million. This project is expected to be completed by mid-2019.

This project will serve 557 unserved and underserved homes and businesses in the Rushford Village/Rural Rushford exchange in Fillmore County.  With fiber optic cable installation, rural Rushford will see many advancements in medicine, education, and agriculture. These three industries impact nearly every home in rural Rushford and Rushford Village.

Krystal and Patrick Campbell of Sprouts Childcare and Early Education Center, LLC are moving forward with a project that will involve the construction of a 7,500 square foot child care center building in Stewartville, Minnesota’s Schumann Business Park. The center will have capacity for 99 children including 16 infant openings.  The project will also involve the immediate creation of 15 full-time positions in the community.

At the beginning of 2017, CEDA team member Joya Stetson who serves the Stewartville EDA worked closely with community boards/organizations and local businesses to understand the expanding childcare needs of the growing community.  The group initiated a survey that was distributed City-wide in addition to hosting a public forum which allowed residents, childcare providers, and support organizations to come together and discuss current demand as well as potential action items.  Following this forum, discussions began with current in-home provider Krystal Campbell who has since finalized plans for her new center.

The City of Stewartville and its EDA have been supportive of the project, and have found ways to provide assistance.  City Council and the EDA have unanimously approved a $50,000 low-interest loan for Sprouts Childcare and Early Education Center, LLC. People’s Energy Cooperative, the electric utility provider for the City, was also a major factor in this project’s development with the provision of a $125,000 loan.

Stewartville City Council has approved a purchase agreement with the Campbells for the land in the Schumann Business Park.  The closing date is set for on or before February 1, 2018 with an anticipated opening date in Fall of 2018.

“The City is excited about this project,” said Mayor Jimmie-John King. “Although we have many excellent providers offering child care services in our community, there is still significant demand for more capacity.  This new center will supplement the existing, high-quality services and assist our residents and businesses by offering additional, needed childcare slots.”

Article by: Chris Giesen

The City of Chatfield with the help of CEDA Vice President Chris Giesen recently secured a $177,000 Business Development Public Infrastructure (BDPI) grant from Minnesota DEED to help pave Industrial Drive in southwest Chatfield, one of the last gravel road sections in the city, which will support an expansion at one of Tuohy Furniture’s manufacturing facilities.  While not covered by the grant, this project also gave the city the opportunity to improve water and sewer services to 9 commercial lots in order to make them developable.

While Giesen was speaking about this development opportunity on CEDA’s annual Regional Development Tour this past June the project caught the attention of tour participant Pat Boyle of MiEnergy, one of Chatfield’s electric cooperatives.  At the time of the Regional Development Tour, the city had not made a decision on whether to move forward with the improvement project or not.  Giesen explained to the tour group that it would be a very costly project – which is why the roadway had remained gravel for so many years.  At the reception after the tour Boyle mentioned to Giesen that MiEnergy Cooperative might be able to help with zero percent financing through one of their revolving loan programs.  Giesen and Chatfield City Clerk Joel Young met with Boyle a few days later to discuss the loan program and the application process and quickly realized it was a fit.

Giesen applied for the MiEnergy loan and was approved for $300,000 at 0% interest for 10 years, which is estimated to save Chatfield taxpayers $40,000-$50,000 dollars in interest expenses.  “Pat and MiEnergy were great to work with” said Giesen, “this loan will allow the city to not only improve the roadway but also improve water, sanitary sewer, and storm sewer and allow us to have 9 additional commercial lots to market and sell.  MiEnergy’s assistance will also help support the surrounding residential neighborhood.  We are looking forward to utilizing their loan program again on future projects.”

Construction started after Labor Day and should be driveable by winter, with the project being finished in early summer 2018.