WILLMAR—The city of Willmar has already issued more new home construction permits in the first seven months of 2016 than it did all of last year.
“I think the demand is there,” said Bruce Peterson, Planning and Development Services director.
There have been 31 single-family dwelling construction permits this year, totaling about $6 million in permit value. Last year there were 12 single-family and 10 twin homes, Peterson said.
Peterson said he believes a majority of the new homes going
The University of Minnesota Extension’s report shows manufacturing leads the Mid-Minnesota region in total output at 41% and is second in employment at 14%, just behind health care at 16%. Read the full report here.
Willmar Industrial Park is 31st site to receive designation in Minnesota
ST. PAUL—An industrial park located on the west side of Willmar has been certified for the Shovel Ready Program by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).
The 181-acre site in the Willmar Industrial Park is the 31st site designated in Minnesota and the second site in the nine-county area around Willmar to be certified under the program. Shovel Ready certification means planning, zoning,
WILLMAR—An angel investment group that will have up to $3 million in funds to focus on agricultural development in Kandiyohi County could have enough investors to launch a project yet this year.
In the works for two years, the newly named West Central Angel Fund 1 has 13 initial investors who have worked with a capital investment consultant in recent months to create a formal limited liability company structure for the fund.
All that behind-the-scenes-work has placed the investment group in a position
Watch our videos about the upcoming telephone survey calls related to Kandiyohi County’s Broadband Internet Feasibility Study.
The county is using these calls to generate a statistically valid, randomized sample of county residents in order to better understand the interest in county-wide Internet service.
The calls are a part of a larger feasibility study being performed by CNE Engineering, with offices in Fargo North Dakota and New London, Minnesota, which will take place in phases throughout
WILLMAR—If you live in rural Kandiyohi County and get a phone call next month asking about your broadband service, don’t hang up.
The telephone survey is being conducted during May as part of a countywide broadband feasibility study, and organizers want—and need—the public to participate.
“We want to make sure people recognize the study and respond. That’s critical,” said Connie Schmoll, business development specialist with the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development
WILLMAR—At a panel discussion Monday with Lt. Gov. Tina Smith, stories of local broadband woes crackled with a frustration that has become familiar.
Speaker after speaker described the shortcomings with their rural internet service—slow speeds, inadequate bandwidth and sometimes no service at all unless they drive into town to find a free wireless hotspot.
The broadband gap increasingly puts rural Minnesota at a competitive disadvantage, said Aaron Backman, executive director of the Kandiyohi
WILLMAR—The Willmar City Council has approved the city’s participation in the Minnesota Department of Economic Development Shovel Ready Certification program for the Willmar Industrial Park.
The city’s share of the professional services needed to become certified is $8,026. The Kandiyohi County and city of Willmar Economic Development Commission will pay the remaining half of the professional services and the $3,250 for the program’s application fee.
Aaron Backman, EDC director, hopes to
ATWATER—By using “creative rearranging” in her greenhouse/cafe/hardware store/bait shop/gift shop/coffee bar, an Atwater woman has responded once again to the needs of her rural community. She has added the term “grocery store” to her all-under-one-roof business that’s reminiscent of an old-style mercantile.
“We’re busting at our seams now,” said Elsie Kashmark, owner of Peaceful Thymes, located on U.S. Highway 12 on the east edge of Atwater. “We’re full from floor to ceiling.”
For
Clark Engineering, which was a partner in the Kandiyohi County Landfill Leachate Treatment Plant project in New London, received the Grand Award and the Grand Conceptor Award for the project at the 2016 American Council of Engineering Companies awards banquet Jan. 29 in Minneapolis. The leachate treatment plant at the landfill uses Clark Engineering’s patent-pending technology to filter out hazardous chemicals and other contaminants from the landfill’s discharge. Clark Engineering was recognized
