Compeer Financial and CEDA Partner on Rural Vitality

Sun Prairie, Wis., (February 14, 2023) – Compeer Financial, a Farm Credit cooperative based
in the upper Midwest, has partnered with Community and Economic Development Associates
(CEDA) on efforts to bring vitality to rural communities.
At the start of 2023, Compeer Financial made a formal commitment toward furthering the
strength of rural communities.
“Compeer Financial already invests in rural healthcare, entrepreneurs and education through
many of our current programs,” said John Monson, chief mission officer at Compeer Financial.
“But we know there’s an incredible opportunity to help more communities move from just
surviving to fully thriving. CEDA is already pursuing a lot of this important work and we are
ecstatic about this partnership.”
CEDA is a non-profit organization that was established in 1986 with the mission of supporting
rural communities. Their focus areas include community support programs, small business
assistance, grant writing, administration service and community planning and development.
Compeer Financial plans to perform exploratory work to learn about the needs of rural
communities, and implement pilot projects in two communities in Compeer’s territory that
encompasses 144 counties in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Compeer and CEDA will work
together on information sharing and pilot program execution.
While Compeer’s focus as a Farm Credit cooperative has been in financial services to the
agriculture industry, Monson says that agriculture depends on rural communities to succeed.
“Learning and listening are just as important at the onset as doing,” said Monson. “Maybe it’s
broadband, maybe it’s infrastructure, maybe workforce training, maybe it’s leadership and
coaching. We start by learning, then apply these lessons, prioritize our investments and
partnerships.
“Our work is centered on the belief that rural communities are full of innovation and inspiration,”
said Courtney Bergey Swanson, vice president of development and collaborative services at
CEDA. “We aim to work alongside these communities to help catalyze positive momentum. That

means building relationships and trust, understanding their needs and working together toward
their goals. We are excited to work in partnership with Compeer Financial to dive even deeper
into this work and determine how rural communities can thrive in the future.”
CEDA’s Rural Business Innovation Lab is an example of one way to engage with rural
businesses. The program provides support for rural entrepreneurs who might be geographically
isolated from some of the resources that are helpful to businesses and startups. The three-year
program involves peer networking, assistance with access to capital, applying for grants and
establishing a robust business plan.
“At CEDA, we like to think we have the eyes and ears on the ground in rural communities to find
missing links where we can,” said Bergey Swanson.
“We are excited to develop a strong strategy that can serve as a model across the nation when
it comes to bolstering the vitality of rural America,” said Monson. “We have a lot of opportunity
ahead of us to make an impact.”

About Compeer Financial
Compeer Financial is a member-owned Farm Credit cooperative serving and supporting
agriculture and rural communities. The $28.1 billion organization provides loans, leases, risk
management and other financial services throughout 144 counties in Illinois, Minnesota and
Wisconsin. Based in the Upper Midwest, Compeer Financial exists to champion the hopes and
dreams of rural America, while providing personalized service and expertise to clients and the
agriculture industry.
Compeer Financial is the third largest cooperative of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide
network of lending institutions supporting agriculture and rural communities with reliable,
consistent credit and financial services. Learn more about Compeer Financial.

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LA CRESCENT, Minn. (WXOW)- Houston County residents and leaders held a town hall event at the La Crescent Area Event Center to discuss possible solutions to the child care crisis facing the county Tuesday night.

Houston County reached out to the First Children’s Finance, an organization that focuses on building a supporting child care providers to assist.

Data collected from First Children’s Finance show that more childcare providers are leaving the industry than new providers coming into the county.

Candace Cegla, the Eastern Minnesota’s Business Development Manager of First Children, said surveys they gathered show some negative economic impacts from parents and employers.

“What we do is we come together, we provide the data around what the need is and what the community states the need is as well. And we then ask the community to help create those solutions,” Cegla said.

Everyone in attendance had the chance to present their possible solution. Jessica Beyer, Minnesota Associate Director of First Children’s Finance, said providing affordable local training was a reoccurring theme throughout the night.

“CPR and first aid they said about 125 to 150 dollars per person. That’s a big line item budget for a child care program so being able to reduce that would be very helpful,” Beyer said.

On March 1, Houston County’s Core team advocating for child care will regroup with First Children’s Finance to narrow down the top five actionable solutions that can be done on a local level.

By Joshua Schuetz

The City of Harmony’s tax initiative program for new housing has proven a smashing success over the past eight years, adding 19 units and more than $3 million to the local tax base. It’s a
success that has gotten the city attention from the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and other national and international news outlets.

CEDA team member Chris Giesen said the program started in 2014 to tackle a big problem:
demographic decline.

“We did studies and they showed that we were on the wrong side of some trends,” Giesen said. “We were the oldest city in our part of southeast Minnesota and had the lowest income, too.” Giesen and the Harmony EDA got to work on the problem and developed a program to offer cash rebates of up to $12,000 on new construction requiring that each project create at least $125,000 in taxable value. Starting in 2023, the maximum rebate increased to $20,000.

So far, the program has proven wildly successful, attracting new residents and helping current residents living in starter homes move up into higher-level housing, which made the market more affordable for entry-level homebuyers. Most importantly, the program played a part in reversing Harmony’s demographic decline.

“The program has attracted new people to town and I would say half of rebate recipients we can trace back to people who weren’t living in town before,” Giesen said. “When we did the census, it showed two and a quarter percent growth, and we were one of only three cities in Fillmore County to grow, which was great.” Giesen said programs like Harmony’s show how CEDA’s collaborative approach can help communities tackle their biggest challenges.“It’s an example of being creative with what CEDA does, when we’re meeting the city where it’s at, we were able to help them figure out what made sense for them,” he said.