WILLMAR — “Big ideas” for how to solve Willmar’s single-family housing issue were shared with the Willmar City Council during the Oct. 24 meeting.
Paul Borene, the chair of the Willmar Mayor’s Housing Task Force, said the task force effort was long overdue.
“This should have been done, maybe, years ago; years and years ago,” he said.
The bottom line of the 10-page report is that the city of Willmar, along with support from Kandiyohi County, should create a public-private program
WILLMAR — Improving access to mental health services such as counseling and treatment remains a priority for both Kandiyohi County and Woodland Centers. Even as society continues to come back from the challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the need for mental health services remains strong, and in some cases growing.
The Kandiyohi County Board heard the annual report from Woodland Centers on Oct. 18, and was provided a look into what the past year has been like for the mental health
WILLMAR—It has taken more than a decade, but the wait is finally over. The Willmar Connector and Industrial Access Project—a nearly $50 million railroad bypass project—is completed and ready to receive train traffic.
Dignitaries from various partners involved in the project, along with local, regional and state government officials, gathered in Willmar on Tuesday for a ribbon-cutting and train ride to celebrate the accomplishment that is the Willmar Wye.
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“We are already seeing
NEW LONDON—Residents and businesses in Brooten, Danube, Kerkhoven, New London, Pennock and Spicer will soon be gaining access to 1-gigabit broadband connections, thanks to a project by TDS Telecommunications.
The telecommunications service provider broke ground on a fiber network expansion project this month.
According to a news release, it will connect more than 3,700 properties to fiber broadband service, with the first people being able to connect by next summer. The launches will continue
At the Oct. 4 Kandiyohi County Board meeting, commissioners proclaimed October to be Manufacturing Month as a means to shine a spotlight on the county’s robust manufacturing sector.
West Central Steel is one of five manufacturing businesses in Kandiyohi County spotlighted during Manufacturing Month by the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission. The company has expanded several times over the years.Erica Dischino / West Central Tribune file photo
WILLMAR —
Willmar—The developer of what is thought to be the first tiny home development in the region has the southeast Willmar project out for bids.
Justin Paffrath, also a real estate agent, spoke last week to the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission to share the inspiration behind his development, as well as concept plans of how the development will be laid out.
Paffrath agreed with EDC Executive Director Aaron Backman that this would likely be the first tiny home development
The Forever Green Initiative at the University of Minnesota is developing 16 new crops to keep landscapes covered, and water cleaner.
Don Wyse’s field of winter barley used to be mostly empty in the spring.
Eight years ago, just a tenth of the grain would survive the winter in this experimental field in St. Paul. But this year, after repeatedly refining the plant’s genetics, the field was flush with swaying, pale yellow grain heads.
Read the full story at the Star Tribune
Following months of discussion with members of the community, business leaders and elected officials, the Minnesota Department of Public Transportation (District 8) has released four concept proposals regarding the Highway 23 and 9 safety improvement project: An interchange, J-turn, single-lane roundabout and traffic signal.
This project seeks to construct a safer alternative to the accident-prone intersection of Highway 23 and 9 near the Country Stop in New London.
Although MnDOT had initially
Photo from left to right: Katherine Giliz Cusa, Almera Jane Amindato, Missi May Flores and Shelamie Santillan are several of the new teachers who are starting the new school year with Willmar Public Schools after being hired through an international teaching program. This is Willmar’s first year hiring teachers abroad to help address its staffing shortage. The teachers have the opportunity to stay teaching in Minnesota for up to five years before being required to return to their home countries
By Sarah Swedburg
“Having access can open doors” first appeared in the EDC’s Fall 2022 Newsletter
This was Business Development Manager Sarah Swedburg’s matter-of-fact answer when asked just how high-speed broadband internet and childcare relate to a sustainable workforce in Kandiyohi County.
Both issues have been on the hot plate at the EDC in recent months with state and federal grants offering significant financial support.
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