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—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
For aquaculture farmer Paul Damhof, putting up the “sold out” placard along his roadside billboard has become almost as much of a daily chore as checking the pH levels of his shrimp tanks.
With customers across a 150-mile radius and few industry competitors to contend with, Blomkest shrimp farm Simply Shrimp LLC continues with meeting demand.
“On weekends, holidays, it’s nothing to have 20, 30, 40 people driving up on the yard, “Damhof said. “It’s gone as soon as we get (shrimp) up
SPICER—The camping season at the Kandiyohi County parks usually begins May 1 and the county opened up online reservations for its sites at five parks all the way back in mid-January. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent shutdown of unessential businesses drastically changed the 2020 camping season.
All reservations for the month of May were canceled, as the governor’s executive order initially kept all public campgrounds closed. That changed Monday, as the county parks reopened
WILLMAR—Eleven months after construction began on the Willmar Wye project, progress continues to be made on several aspects of the project, according to the weekly update from the Minnesota Department of Transportation District 8, based in Willmar.
The bridges that will one day span the new rail track are starting to rise, with construction on the pier caps ongoing for the U.S. Highway 12 bridge. Also, work was done last week on embankments on Kandiyohi County Road 55 north and south of state Highway
WILLMAR—After nearly 30 years of running its own multi-sort recycling program, Kandiyohi County is moving to a single-sort system, which will be run and operated by West Central Sanitation.
“I am very, very pleased with this proposal and the ability to have curbside pickup for everybody in the county,” said Kandiyohi County Commissioner Roger Imdieke.
The County Board unanimously approved the proposal at Tuesday’s meeting. While moving to a single-sort system had been a topic
WILLMAR—As warmer weather returns, the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Hoffmann Group, contractor for the project, are getting ready to restart work on the Willmar Wye railroad bypass project on the west side of Willmar.
According to a project update from MnDOT, crews will begin construction next week on the new U.S. Highway 12 bridge, which will go over the rail line to be constructed by BNSF Railway.
Also next week, grading will be prepared for sidewalk and median concrete at the
WILLMAR—Nearly half of respondents to a broadband survey taken in Dovre, Mamre and St. Johns townships in Kandiyohi County said they would be willing to spend on average $61.47 a month for high-speed broadband service.
“There is a demand for high-speed broadband and people are willing to pay,” said Connie Schmoll, business development manager with the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission.
The survey, completed by the EDC and Compass Consultants, was sent
WILLMAR—If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a four-minute video should say quite a lot. That is what the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission is hoping as it releases a new video that focuses on the quality of life within the county.
“We wanted something fun,” said Connie Schmoll, EDC business development manager, “that states Minnesota is a great place to live and Kandiyohi County is a great place in Minnesota.”
The completed video—and
