By: winonadailynews
Source: http://www.winonadailynews.com
Source: http://www.winonadailynews.com
CHATFIELD, Minn. - Sometimes all a small city needs is a little
extra help.
That's the belief of Community and Economic Development Associates, a nonprofit community development organization based in Chatfield. The group, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, provides services including grant-writing and small business assistance, and recently added another - city administration.
The reach of its impact on area cities is wide. The group employs workers in Winona and Fillmore counties, in the cities of Rushford, St. Charles, Harmony and Preston, among others. Wherever they go, their mission is clear - to create fully-developed and sustainable communities.
Sometimes that comes in the form of financial assistance. According to company data, CEDA has helped secure more than $23 million for communities in southeast Minnesota and northeast Iowa since 1986, including $4.2 million since 2010.
The money has gone toward aesthetic and structural improvements in several downtown areas, as well as toward assisting small businesses.
The support also can help communities recover from disaster. Cris Gastner, a CEDA community development specialist based in St. Charles, has been integral to the city's rebuilding efforts since the city's biggest employer, North Star Foods, burned in 2009.
When the company chose not to rebuild, the city began work on a business park. Two years later, curb-and-gutter construction is finished on the 30-acre park, and city officials are confident most - or all - of the jobs lost in the fire will be replaced. Nearly a third of the project was paid for with grant money Gastner secured, and he is actively marketing the park to potential businesses.
CEDA is about more than economic development. After years of working directly with city governments, the group recently started taking on city administrative work.
The city of Lewiston, Minn., last week became the first in the area to privately contract city work, hiring two CEDA administrative workers, both of which will hold offices in Lewiston. CEDA President and CEO Ron Zeigler said the arrangement is "cutting-edge" and may change the way small-town government is run.
Zeigler said contracting administrative work allows for more efficient - and nimble - government. Rather than working on a per-project basis, staff are based in the city and are constantly looking for new projects. And all contracts allow cities to cut ties at any time, a process much less painful than firing a city or county employee.
Zeigler said the members of his 14-person staff become entrenched in their communities.
CEDA Board of Directors Chair F. Mike Tuohy said small cities should embrace the help. "When we come in, we open doors for them," he said. "It's an opportunity."
That's the belief of Community and Economic Development Associates, a nonprofit community development organization based in Chatfield. The group, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, provides services including grant-writing and small business assistance, and recently added another - city administration.
The reach of its impact on area cities is wide. The group employs workers in Winona and Fillmore counties, in the cities of Rushford, St. Charles, Harmony and Preston, among others. Wherever they go, their mission is clear - to create fully-developed and sustainable communities.
Sometimes that comes in the form of financial assistance. According to company data, CEDA has helped secure more than $23 million for communities in southeast Minnesota and northeast Iowa since 1986, including $4.2 million since 2010.
The money has gone toward aesthetic and structural improvements in several downtown areas, as well as toward assisting small businesses.
The support also can help communities recover from disaster. Cris Gastner, a CEDA community development specialist based in St. Charles, has been integral to the city's rebuilding efforts since the city's biggest employer, North Star Foods, burned in 2009.
When the company chose not to rebuild, the city began work on a business park. Two years later, curb-and-gutter construction is finished on the 30-acre park, and city officials are confident most - or all - of the jobs lost in the fire will be replaced. Nearly a third of the project was paid for with grant money Gastner secured, and he is actively marketing the park to potential businesses.
CEDA is about more than economic development. After years of working directly with city governments, the group recently started taking on city administrative work.
The city of Lewiston, Minn., last week became the first in the area to privately contract city work, hiring two CEDA administrative workers, both of which will hold offices in Lewiston. CEDA President and CEO Ron Zeigler said the arrangement is "cutting-edge" and may change the way small-town government is run.
Zeigler said contracting administrative work allows for more efficient - and nimble - government. Rather than working on a per-project basis, staff are based in the city and are constantly looking for new projects. And all contracts allow cities to cut ties at any time, a process much less painful than firing a city or county employee.
Zeigler said the members of his 14-person staff become entrenched in their communities.
CEDA Board of Directors Chair F. Mike Tuohy said small cities should embrace the help. "When we come in, we open doors for them," he said. "It's an opportunity."
