WILLMAR—The possible construction of a massive development project in the Willmar Industrial Park moved closer to fruition on Wednesday, with the Willmar Planning Commission recommending the city sell more than 30 acres of land to RDC National Inc.
RDC National is working on behalf of an end user—not yet identified publicly—to construct an over $25 million logistics facility in the Industrial Park’s Fourth Addition, located between Willmar Avenue and Trott Avenue Southwest on the
WILLMAR—While the COVID-19 pandemic caused a lot of challenges, it has also made a few opportunities. One of those is the sudden rise in funding available for broadband projects, thanks to the American Rescue Plan.
The Kandiyohi County Board of Commissioners has already decided to focus most of the county’s share of the federal funding to broadband, bringing a big lift to the work being done by the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission broadband committee.
“They
WILLMAR—Understanding the ag market after COVID-19 will be a topic for discussion during the third annual Partners in Ag Innovation seminar July 29 in Willmar.
The theme for the event, which is scheduled from 7:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Thursday July 29, is “From Survive to Thrive.”
The half-day seminar will be offered in a hybrid format that includes in-person attendance at the MinnWest Technology Campus in Willmar or an online option.
The free event is sponsored by MinnWest and the Kandiyohi
WILLMAR—Two years after the first shovels full of dirt were moved in July 2019, the road construction portion of the Willmar Rail Connector and Industrial Access Project has been completed, minus a few little things that still need to be wrapped up.
“For a project of this size and complexity, it went really well,” said Paul Rasmussen, project manager from the Minnesota Department of Transportation District 8.
Work began on the project, better known as the Willmar Wye, on July 9,
Progress continues as the city of Prinsburg stays vigilant in their quest to bring Broadband to its residents for faster and more reliable internet access.
After a meeting held with Rep. Tim Miller (R-Prinsburg) earlier this year resulted with learning valuable information to move forward with their need, at the July regular monthly Prinsburg City Council meeting held July 13, council members held a Zoom meeting with Broadband planning consultant Connie Schmoll, CMCS Superintendent Jon De Groot
WILLMAR— When asked how her first day as the new Willmar City Administrator went, Leslie Valiant described it in one word.
“A whirlwind, but it was good,” Valiant said during Monday’s Willmar City Council meeting. “Staff was wonderful, as I imagined they would be.”
Valiant was hired as the city administrator on June 27.
“I appreciate the chance. The opportunity is wonderful,” Valiant said.
Prior to taking the top administration job in Willmar, Valiant
WILLMAR — Suite Liv’n, a rental developer and management company, currently has approximately 700 units in Willmar, and the company hopes to add at least another 72 with four new apartment buildings near Ridgewater College.
To make the project financially feasible for Suite Liv’n, it is requesting a 15-year tax-increment financing district for the project from the city, which, if approved, would provide the company nearly $1.5 million total in returned taxes. However, to receive that
WILLMAR—The “for sale” signs on Block 25 in Willmar officially say sold and Lumber One Development Company of Avon hopes to begin construction this fall on the 57-unit, four-story apartment complex in downtown Willmar.
At the special Willmar Planning Commission on June 30, the commission unanimously approved the conditional use permit for the project.
“The project has proven financially feasible,” said David Ramstad, Willmar Planning and Development director. “They
WILLMAR — With $234,000 in hand from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Kandiyohi County is moving forward with improvements at Big Kandiyohi Lake County Park East.
In February, the county applied for a 2022 Outdoor Recreation Grant to help fund the project at the park. Last week, County Administrator Larry Kleindl heard back from the state.
“We were awarded that grant,” Kleindl said at Tuesday’s Kandiyohi County Board of Commissioners meeting.
The commissioners unanimously
WILLMAR—Learning how to successfully prepare, operate and manage a small business over the course of 12 weeks, five local entrepreneurs graduated June 16 from the first Elevate class in Minnesota.
In a 2017 survey, the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission found an increasing number of minority-owned businesses opening in and around Willmar.
The EDC report was sponsored with a grant from Southwest Initiative Foundation to design and implement a Business Retention
