Archives for October 2023

By Joshua Schuetz

One year ago, CEDA team member Hillary Tweed was approached by a group of women in Benson who had an idea: to revive the Benson’s Quilt and Garden Tour, which was last held more than thirty years ago.

“They wanted to get the event going again in Benson, so we started meeting monthly to begin planning,” Tweed said. “This was all done because members of the community wanted to contribute, so the quilters and gardeners donated their materials and space.”

A quilt and garden tour is exactly what it sounds like: gardens from around the community were chosen, and quilts were placed around them, along with refreshments, offering attendees the chance to enjoy local art, crafts, ambience and food.

When Tweed and the group began recruiting quilters, they discovered more interest in
quilting—and the event—than they had expected. “We had so many quilts submitted that we had to cap it at 120,” Tweed said. “As we started receiving positive feedback from people in Benson, other organizations jumped on board.”
The Zetetic Study Group provided the refreshments served at the event, and Thrivent Financial also offered monetary support. The Benson Golf Club, meanwhile, donated the use of the clubhouse to sell tickets for the event.

Tweed said the reason she was contacted was that the local organizers were aware of the economic development office’s work on other area events and its use of social media to promote local activities.

“We have a music in the market event, and I help with managing the Benson Facebook Page, so they knew our office was involved in organizing and promoting events,” Tweed said. “It also helps that I like to quilt, too!”

When all was said and done, the event, held on June 28th, was more successful than its organizers had expected, with over a hundred quilts on display across several gardens in the community and attendees.

“We had a lot of people whom I didn’t expect to see there—it wasn’t just quilters and gardeners, and we were able to have local artists come and paint landscape scenes at the event, which people really liked.” Tweed said. “It truly was something for the entire Benson community, and it was great that we were able to revive it.”

By Joshua Schuetz

Residents and visitors to Hayfield now have a new way to take trips ‘round the town. The city’s new bike share service, work on which has been underway throughout this year, is now open to the public as of August 23.

Hayfield’s bike share service is free. Six new bikes were purchased through the funding from The Hayfield EDA, with the help of CEDA team member Rebecca Charles, led the way on the project, which was funded in part by a $10,000 grant from the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF). A bike rodeo was held last year to raise awareness and additional community support for the project.

Bike shares, which allow residents and visitors to rent bikes for free or a small fee, are growing in popularity throughout Minnesota and the United States as cities look to promote physical exercise, reduce car dependency and give residents more opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, there are 2,655 bike share stations in 65 cities across the United States.
SMIF, and work on the pergolas and bike racks was also funded through the grant. In order to make the service accessible and inclusive to all residents, the city chose to purchase bikes of varying sizes, including youth to adult frames.

The new bike share racks are located under two pergolas by city hall. In addition to sheltering the bicycles from rain, the pergolas will offer residents a place to rest in the shade when walking downtown, checking one of the bikes out, or bringing a bike in after a ride. Bicycles will be stored indoors during the winter months.

Residents and visitors are welcome to check out bikes from the city, which can be done at city hall. Weekend rentals are also available but must be checked out by 3:30 p.m. on Thursdays.

By Joshua Schuetz

CEDA’s Rural Business Innovation Lab (RBIL) launched in late spring 2023, and the inaugural cohort is now halfway through the 8-month technical assistance program. RBIL, which is funded in part by a grant from Compeer Financial, is led by CEDA team members Robert Harris III and Cameron Payne.

Since the kickoff event in Red Wing in June, CEDA’s RBIL team has been meeting weekly with the eight companies in the inaugural cohort, working with them on a customized plan to scale their businesses. CEDA has also been building capacity for future cohorts, integrating new learnings and creating programming that caters to the needs of these rural companies. Here are a few highlights of the past few months:

● To support businesses as they embark on marketing campaigns, pitch competitions, and seeking capital, CEDA developed a “storyboarding sprint” curriculum that utilized sprint and agile brainstorming methodologies to organize big ideas into actionable steps forward.

● One of RBIL’s major goals is to create a denser, more well-connected ecosystem of innovative rural businesses. One exciting example of RBIL’s collaborative nature is a new partnership between two RBIL businesses: Perennial Pantry recently featured 3Cricketeers products in their subscription box! These entrepreneurs share a unified vision for environmental change and improved sustainable business practices.

● Access to startup capital is a common need for businesses, but it’s even harder in rural places which often have fewer banking institutions and angel investors. CEDA has been working to bridge that gap by hosting virtual events for the RBIL cohort to connect directly with investors and lenders, learning about venture capital, angel investment, traditional business lending, and other creative ways to approach financing as they scale.

● To assist the RBIL cohort in the day-to-day operational challenges and knowledge gaps, CEDA has also partnered with several industry experts for consulting on topics such as human resources, CPG consumer testing, legislative engagement, and accounting.

Stay tuned for more updates on the Rural Business Innovation Lab, including information on how to apply for the next cohort (applications will open in early 2024). To learn more about the current businesses involved in the RBIL program, please visit CEDA’s website or reach out to Director of Strategic Initiatives Robert Harris III (robert.harris@cedausa.com).