WILLMAR — The CARES Pandemic Relief Program, managed by the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission, will receive a needed influx of cash.
The Willmar City Council at its meeting Monday approved transferring $1 million to the EDC for the program, which provides grants to eligible and approved small businesses and nonprofits in the county which have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I do believe the EDC is best at distributing these funds across
WILLMAR—In the first week of the CARES Pandemic Relief grant program, managed by the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission and funded with money from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, 47 businesses and nonprofits applied for assistance. Forty-four of those applicants were deemed eligible for help, totaling approximately $320,000 in grant requests.
“We are receiving about six applications a day right now,” said Aaron Backman, EDC executive
WILLMAR—They say third time’s the charm and the new Ziegler CAT facility in Willmar definitely looks like a success.
“It is the biggest showroom Ziegler has,” said Dave Ose, branch manager. Willmar is one of 27 Ziegler locations across Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Missouri.
The nearly 60,000-square-foot showroom and shop, located at 4600 Highway 71 S., is actually the power equipment dealer’s third store to be in Willmar. Ziegler first arrived in town in 2015 and set up
WILLMAR—The coronavirus pandemic, which has sickened millions and killed thousands has also had a devastating impact on small businesses and nonprofits. Even now, as some states and cities begin to reopen, nothing is back to normal. In an effort to help those still struggling to hold on, the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission have created the CARES Pandemic Relief Grant program, aptly known as CPR.
“We are trying to keep businesses alive,” said Aaron
WILLMAR—Ziegler CAT opened its new facility in Willmar on July 20, according to a Ziegler CAT news release.
Located at 4600 Highway 71 S., the two-story facility features a retail showroom, a 25,000-square-foot shop, warehouses, offices, and a 7,800-square-foot cold-storage building. The shops include two bridge cranes, lube systems, a hose bench, and a wash bay. An on-site Cat solar array will provide clean, cost-effective, renewable electricity to the new facility.
Read more at West Central Tribune
WILLMAR — The days of the Kandi Mall are over but it is just the beginning for Uptown Willmar.
According to Andy Weiner, president of RockStep Capital who have owned the Willmar shopping hub on South First Street since 2015, the new name is an illustration of the transition the Kandi Mall and others like it are undergoing in the ever-changing retail landscape. The mall first opened in 1973.
Read more at West Central Tribune
WILLMAR—Ridgewater College and agriculture partners received a $584,000 National Science Foundation grant to address a need for more agriculture technicians.
The grant will fund the program Technical Applications in Agriculture which will educate and qualify high school students as agriculture technicians.
“We have the second longest running precision agriculture program in the country, along with our newly created Agriculture Power and Equipment Technician program, so this partnership is a natural
WILLMAR—In just over 365 days, the site of what will become the Willmar Rail Connector and Industrial Access Project, or the Willmar Wye, went from farm fields and open spaces to an active construction site where one can already find most of the realigned—but unpaved—U.S. Highway 12 and the beginnings of two new highway bridges on Highway 12 and Minnesota Highway 40.
“It has been going fairly well,” said Paul Rasmussen, project manager from the Minnesota Department of Transportation
WILLMAR—The $7.6 million Kandiyohi County, Willmar and most of the other cities and townships in the county received in total from Minnesota through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act is both an opportunity and a challenge.
An opportunity because it is much-needed funding for local units of government to meet a pandemic no one expected. It is a challenge because the amount of money, the reporting requirements attached to it and short time frame could be too much for some
WILLMAR—If Paul Damhof is able to secure the capital he needs to complete a $10 million expansion of his saltwater shrimp farm near Blomkest, he said he believes he would be able to produce 250,000 pounds of Pacific white shrimp a year.
Pretty impressive considering the Pacific Ocean is more than 2,000 miles away.
“We are raising shrimp in salt water,” Damhof said. “All we are doing is mimicking the ocean water and raising saltwater shrimp right here in Minnesota.”
Damhof
