A housing task force was created at the May 2 Willmar City Council meeting. A group of 15 to 16 people is expected to work for three months, or even less, and report back to the city and other partners trying to promote the availability of more housing. Although more apartment complexes are under construction, single-family housing has been identified as a particular need.
Read the full story at the West Central Tribune
While construction has already begun on the north gap of the Highway 23 four-lane project, supporters gathered Friday in Roscoe to officially celebrate the start of the long-planned and wished-for project. A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the Roadside Tavern Banquet Hall, with various state, county, city and township dignitaries from along Minnesota Highway 23 in attendance.
See pictures of the event and read the full article at the West Central Tribune
WILLMAR — Minnesota is proud of its agricultural heritage, including being the No. 1 producer of turkeys in the nation. Unfortunately, that also means the state is being hit hard by this year’s outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza.
Since late March, nearly 1.4 million turkeys and chickens in Minnesota have been impacted and culled at 40 different sites — most of them commercial poultry producers and six of them in Kandiyohi County alone.
“We knew this was coming. We saw
St. Paul – On Friday, Governor Walz signed the Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Frontline Worker bill into law. Replenishing the UI Trust Fund at $2.73 billion will ensure UI benefits are available to workers in the future and that businesses across the state are held harmless from the effects of the pandemic. About 130,000 businesses will receive UI tax relief with the passing of this bill – with the total amount of relief provided to businesses coming totaling around $200 million for the first
Cleanup is needed on a downtown Willmar lot slated to be the home of an apartment complex, including petroleum, a fuel tank leak and solvents used by a former dry cleaning business.
Willmar City Council approved being the fiscal agent for a Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development contamination cleanup grant for Lumber One, the developers who will be constructing Block 25 Lofts apartments.
Read the complete article at West Central Tribune
The Willmar City Council approved an early access agreement with Nexyst 360, an agricultural distribution company that wants to purchase 137 acres in the Willmar Industrial Park. The agreement would allow Nexyst 360 to begin developer activities such as surveys, environmental assessments and soil investigations prior to any land sale being completed.
Nexyst 360 is interested in purchasing more than 130 acres on the western side of the Willmar Industrial Park. The Willmar City Council on Monday,
WILLMAR—Over the past year, Kandiyohi County has been concentrating on bringing high-speed broadband to all corners of the county. The County Board has even pledged to use up to 75% of its American Rescue Plan Act coronavirus relief money to fund various broadband projects.
At the Feb. 15 County Board meeting, the commissioners approved a letter of support for a grant application being pursued by a party outside of Kandiyohi County. Vibrant Broadband from Litchfield is applying for a USDA ReConnect
WILLMAR—The world and its workforce have changed dramatically over the past several years and employers need to change right along with them. That was the overall message at the Workforce Solutions Summit held Thursday in Willmar.
Sponsored and produced by a partnership of several regional economic development and community organizations, the summit brought dozens from the surrounding business area to the Willmar Community (sic) Center. There were presentations on labor market trends, diversifying
WILLMAR—The end user for the massive logistics facility being constructed in the Willmar Industrial Park has finally been identified publicly.
“It’s official; it is FedEx,” said Aaron Backman, executive director of the Kandiyohi County and city of Willmar Economic Development Commission.
The project is estimated to be worth more than $30 million, and includes the construction of a 217,000-square-foot distribution center, located between Willmar and Trott Avenues Southwest along
WILLMAR—At their annual visit to the Kandiyohi County Board of Commissioners, District 17 Senator Andrew Lang, R-Olivia, and District 17B Representative Dave Baker, R-Willmar, were on hand to not only give an update on what is happening in St. Paul, but to also take in the concerns and priorities of the board.
“We’re here today to listen,” Baker said.
The topic the group spent the most time on during Tuesday’s meeting was broadband. Since early 2021, the county board has
