News + Announcements

Article by: Lexi Williams

Lexi Williams, CEDA team member contracted with the City of Stewartville, has been working on coordinating a free summer concert series that will be held at the newly built amphitheater at Bear Cave Park in Stewartville, MN. This project is a collaboration between the City of Stewartville and the Stewartville Area Community Foundation. The concert series will be seven consecutive Wednesdays from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Williams has booked bands for all of the concert dates and has secured all of the event sponsors, which are all Stewartville area businesses. “Members of the EDA, Stewartville Area Community Foundation, and City of Stewartville Staff are all very excited for the event, and I think the community will be thrilled to have weeknight events to attend throughout the summer.” states Williams. The concert series will begin on June 16th.

Article by: Rebecca Charles

In 2020, businesses have faced a kind of uncertainty that a majority of business owners have never faced before.  The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has left many small businesses ravaged and struggling to keep their doors open.  Once the federal CARES Act was passed and funds were allocated to the city, the Spring Grove Economic Development Authority (EDA) and Spring Grove City Council worked to help as many businesses as possible.  The Spring Grove City Council allocated $30,000 to the EDA for the purpose of providing grants to help local businesses.  CEDA Team member, Rebecca Charles drafted, designed and oversaw the application process for this grant program.  All applications were brought before the Spring Grove EDA for approval.  

All applicants were encouraged to spend their grant dollars locally if possible to help stimulate the local economy whenever possible.  “The amount of support and cooperation amongst the business community in Spring Grove has been nothing short of inspiring” says Charles.

Applicable projects included the purchase of PPE, cleaning supplies & equipment, physical alterations to businesses to meet COVID-19 mandate requirements and other items and/or services that make doing business in Spring Grove not only possible, but safer.  After three rounds of applications, the Spring Grove EDA has awarded all of the $30.000 allocated for the Small Business Retention Grant program.  

Article by: Donna Mack

The City of Goodview continues to add amenities to their City parks. Donna Mack, who serves the City of Goodview CEDA contract authored a grant application to Winona County Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) and was awarded a $5,500 grant. SHIP is a state-based program that works at the local level to support healthier communities by expanding opportunities for active living, healthy eating and tobacco-free living. The funds were used to purchase three bike repair stations and two bike racks to be placed in various parks throughout the City.

Michael LaCanne Memorial Park, We Valley Park and the Memorial Park will be the recipients of the new equipment. Due to circumstances with COVID-19 which created a late shipment from the manufacturer, the City will do the installations in early spring of 2021. 

The hope is the three repair stations with air pumps will encourage adults and children to keep their bicycles in good repair, including inflated tires for safety purposes. The parks will provide a convenient spot to put air in a tire or adjust brakes and derailleurs that may have become misaligned. The two bike racks are important for a safe place to park a bicycle for practical purposes.

The goal is to appeal to children and adults to bike to the Goodview parks to provide safe and attractive places for individuals and families to exercise and play. Parks provide low or no-cost recreation and sufficiently engages residents in activities to improve health.

“Parks provide a great benefit to our residents and tourists. Our goal is to have our parks safe and health friendly, to bring families together, and make our City and neighborhoods attractive places to live and work. We are proud of our City parks and appreciate Winona County SHIP for assisting us to maximize additional benefits to our parks”, stated Dan Matejka, Goodview City Administrator.

A research report written by the University of Minnesota and published by the Minnesota Department of Transportation in 2016 made clear the health benefits of bicycling to Minnesotans. The report found that bicycling can significantly lower the odds of becoming obese and/or developing high blood pressure, both of which help to lower medical costs.

Article by: Nicholas Oullette

Following months of discussion and consideration, the Kasson EDA has finalized a concept plan for City-owned land in Southwest Kasson. The EDA Board set a goal to create a marketable project for the 44-acre parcel. The City-owned parcel allows the Kasson EDA to effectuate their vision for future commercial, industrial, and workforce housing development in the city. CEDA team member Nicholas Ouellette, serving the Kasson contract, coordinated planning and design exercises with the EDA Board to generate discussion and ultimately organize the EDA’s vision for future development on the parcel. 

The concept plan meets the City of Kasson’s “ready for growth mantra” says City Administrator Timothy Ibisch, “which the EDA could decide to implement now or in the future”. The concept plan breaks development of the parcel into two phases, one phase for commercial and industrial development, and a second phase for residential and/or commercial development. The northwest portion of the parcel could be an attractive location for commercial businesses as it has high visibility from Highway 14. The purpose for seeking industrial development on the parcel is the availability of grants to assist with the cost of infrastructure development. The project was a positive exercise for the Kasson EDA to consider what future development could be and how the EDA might involve itself.

Article By: Ron Zeigler

In December the State of Minnesota approved emergency relief funding to businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and related executive orders.  Included in the relief funding package, they allocated dollars to each Minnesota county to distribute to eligible businesses locally.

Goodhue County enlisted CEDA to administer the program and aid in distributing  $869,346 to nonprofits and businesses. The application window opened on January 5th to the public and eligible applicants could receive up to $10,000 if they met the criteria:

• Operating a business or nonprofit within Goodhue County
• No current tax liens on record with the Secretary of State at the time of their application 
• Impacted by an executive order related to the COVID-19 pandemic
• Did not receive a direct payment from the Minnesota Department of Revenue;
• Reduction in revenue of at least 25% between April 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020 
• Not related to animal and crop production or passive/rental income. 

Within the first week, 96 applications were submitted for review. The funds were issued on a rolling, first come first serve basis during the program. Overall, the County received 186 applications, 94 of which were awarded funds. 76 of the grants were business related and received $706,437; 18 were awarded to nonprofit organizations totaling $162,909

The impact of this program could be felt by CEDA team members Maddy Schwartz, Chris Giesen, Ron Zeigler and Laura Qualey from the many calls, texts, emails and thank you letters they received from the grant recipients expressing their gratitude and appreciation. Brad Anderson, Goodhue County Commissioner of District 2 stated, “Working with CEDA to qualify businesses and disperse the pandemic relief funds from the state went extremely well and the county was able to get funds out quickly and efficiently.  CEDA Reps in Goodhue County and within the CEDA organization are always very professional and thorough in their work with the counties.  Goodhue County has valued and will continue to value the long working relationship we have with CEDA staff and will continue to partner with them on future projects.”

The application period closed on January 25th but the need was so great that funds were depleted on January 19th.  65 applications were placed on a waiting list should any additional funding be made available under this program.