| |
Latest News
Is
Sweden our gateway to the bioenergy world?
By Anne Polta, West Central Tribune
Published Wednesday, May 03, 2006
WILLMAR—Sweden could be the gateway for helping Kandiyohi
County gain a toehold in the international bioenergy market.
The country’s burgeoning demand for renewable energy
offers a chance for local companies to get involved in everything
from methane-based fuels to pelletized wood for heating systems,
members of a renewable energy delegation from Sweden told
a local audience on Tuesday.
The delegates met with city and county officials and representatives
of the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development
Commission to explore what’s happening—both in
Minnesota and in Europe—in bioenergy.
They also extended an invitation for Kandiyohi County officials
to attend the annual Swedish-American Entrepreneurial Days
in Lidkoping, Sweden, at the end of August.
The three-day event brings together some 600 industry leaders
and potential international partners in cutting-edge fields
such as medical devices, renewable energy and home and industry
design.
Fruitful partnerships could lead to additional markets in
the European Union and its 350 million consumers.
“I really hope you will join us,” said Bengt Erik
Lofgren, president and managing director of AFAB, a bioenergy
technology company whose headquarters are in Lidkoping in
western Sweden. “Look at Sweden as a door opener to
the rest of Europe.”
As one of Europe’s leading producers and consumers of
renewable energy, Sweden could be a prime place to enter the
market, said Lofgren and bioenergy consultant Per Wennerberg.
The country is the world’s leading producer of pelletized
wood fuel, which is being used to heat a growing number of
homes as well as to generate electricity and run district
heating systems.
To meet the growing demand, Sweden must import close to 100,000
tons of wood pellets a year from British Columbia.
“We need to have a supply,” Lofgren said.
Swedish carmakers, such as Saab, are developing flexible-fuel
cars that can run on methane. Research and development also
is under way on efficient methods of producing methane biogas
and distributing it to service stations, Wennerberg said.
“You can actually drive with biogas in a large part
of Sweden,” he said. “There’s a lot to do,
but it’s catching on. For the long term, we believe
firmly in biogas.”
He said renewable energy is increasingly widespread in the
rest of Europe as well. In Germany, for instance, biogas has
become a leading source of electricity; the fastest growing
markets for pelletized wood fuel and stoves are Germany and
Italy.
“The energy sector seems to be the promising sector
where a lot of resources are being developed,” Wennerberg
said.
During a roundtable discussion, information also was shared
about what’s happening locally to develop renewable
energy.
Duane Hultgren, general manager and CEO of Minnesota Valley
Alfalfa Producers in Priam, said his company produces alfalfa
pellets for the livestock industry and is interested in exploring
the energy market.
“We hope to learn a lot more about the pellet market
and the biomass energy market so we can participate in it,”
he said.
North America lags far behind the European Union in its use
of pelletized wood heat. About 600,000 homes in North America
are heated with wood pellet-burning stoves, said Greg Russell,
a wood biomass specialist with the Minnesota Department of
Natural Resources.
The wood pellet industry also faces competition for raw materials
from fiberboard manufacturers, the mulch industry and producers
of sawdust litter for poultry, Russell said.
Nevertheless, eight wood biomass projects are in the planning
or construction stages in Minnesota right now, he said. “The
potential for pelletizing is probably pretty good right now.”
The Swedish delegation’s visit to Willmar was one of
several stops in a tour of the state this week. The group’s
goal is to develop contacts in the United States and stimulate
interest in attending the entrepreneurial conference in Sweden.
Hundreds of business matchmaking meetings occur annually at
the conference, said T. Michael Davis of Scandia-Germania-Davis
PLLC of St. Paul, an international consulting and legal firm
that helped arrange for the Swedish delegation’s visit.
“If you’re looking for something special, we can
help set up a meeting,” he said. “It’s a
great way to create those international relationships.”
New
member named to EDC operations board
By Anne Polta, West Central Tribune
Published Friday, April 28, 2006
WILLMAR—Oliver Hagen, a retired banker from Spicer,
has been appointed as the newest member of the Kandiyohi County
and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission joint
operations board.
He will fill a vacancy that opened in January when former
board member Jeff Welker moved to northern Minnesota.
Hagen’s appointment was approved Thursday by the EDC’s
joint powers board.
“He’s anxious to get on board and I know he’ll
do a good job,” said Dennis Peterson.
The joint operations board, which meets once a month, oversees
the Economic Development Commission’s day-to-day programs
and activities. The operations board has seven members.
EDC
sets its preliminary budget target for 2007
By Anne Polta, West Central Tribune
Published Friday, April 28, 2006
WILLMAR—The Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic
Development Commission has set a preliminary target of $500,000
for next year’s budget.
The figure was agreed upon Thursday by the economic development
agency’s joint powers board.
It’s still at least three months before the budget process
will start in earnest. Board members wanted to nail down a
target amount early, however, so that the EDC and its committees
can do a better job of planning and setting priorities.
“We need to give that guidance,” said Denis Anderson,
chairman of the joint powers board and a member of the Willmar
City Council. The joint powers board is comprised of City
Council members and members of the Kandiyohi County Board
of Commissioners. The EDC also hopes to avoid a repeat of
last year, when committee budget requests came in too high
and had to be scaled back.
“It made it very difficult for the individual committees
and the operations board to know where to go,” Anderson
said.
It was the consensus Thursday of the joint powers board to
leave the Economic Development Commission’s tax levy
at $455,000—the same as this year. The difference will
be made up with about $45,000 in unspent money from last year.
It’ll be the second year in a row the EDC has dipped
into its reserves to meet its budget needs.
The recommended budget amount for next year represents a slight
decline in spending. The EDC is projected to spend $533,000
this year on economic development programs and activities.
In addition to the tax levy, revenue is coming from the agency’s
reserve fund and from a $50,000 allocation from the city of
Willmar that’s earmarked for the Willmar Design Center.
It hasn’t been decided yet whether the EDC will set
aside separate funds next year to support the design center,
which is working toward the revitalization of downtown Willmar.
Joint powers board members said they’ll continue to
discuss the issue with county and city officials.
One thing was made clear Thursday: The joint powers board
wants results for the money being spent.
By autumn at the latest, “we need to know what level
of success there is,” said Harlan Madsen, joint powers
board member and a county commissioner. “Scrutinizing
of the outcomes is going to be very key as far as what goes
into the ’07 budget.”
Kathy Schwantes, assistant director of the EDC, said committee
representatives will meet in June with the joint operations
board to report on what they’re accomplishing this year.
The committees are aware of the importance of producing a
return on the EDC’s investment, she said.
“We are a very frugal organization and our track record
has been that we don’t spend the money just because
we have it,” she said. “We try to be very good
stewards of the taxpayer dollars.”
Officials,
Chinese delegation talk renewable energy
By Carolyn Lange, West Central Tribune
Published Thursday, April 27, 2006
WILLMAR — On one of the nicest spring planting days
of the year, Myron Behm’s work on his family farm near
Atwater was interrupted for a couple hours on Wednesday.
Instead of loading seed corn for customers, he helped plant
the seeds for a future partnership between Kandiyohi County
and China for renewable resource projects.
Apologizing for his denim work shirt and jeans, Behm welcomed
a dozen members of the Chinese delegation during a luncheon
meeting at Ridgewater College. Present were local community
leaders and members of the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar
Economic Development Commission, which worked to bring the
Chinese group here.
Behm, a member of the EDC’s agribusiness and renewable
resources committee, was a member of Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s
trade trip to China last year.
Wednesday’s visit brought the promise of collaboration
full circle.
“Once these ties are established they’re hard
to break,” said Behm, in an interview.
He said he’s eager to make good on a signed memorandum
of understanding that he brought back from China to develop
a partnership project to use a methane digester to turn agriculture
products into energy.
From what he’s seen, Behm said the Chinese may have
more advanced technology than Americans do.
Both countries, he said, have high energy costs and the need
to develop alternatives to fossil fuels.
A cooperative project between China and Kandiyohi County isn’t
a pipe dream.
When asked if a project would materialize, Yifeng Shou, deputy
director of the rural energy office of Hangzhou, said “I
believe it.”
Speaking through an interpreter during an interview, Shou
said the delegation was “sent by the government”
and the government is giving renewable energy and the new
relationship with Kandiyohi County a lot of attention.
The delegation included officials from the Hangzhou Municipal
peoples Government’s agriculture, finance and management
areas and experts from a research institute and Zheijiang
University.
The visit Wednesday involved a good deal of show and tell,
including a tour of the Bushmills Ethanol plant, Behm Seed
Company, Ridgewater College and MinnWest Technology Campus
and presentations on methane digesters and other renewable
energy projects.
“We hope that what we take away here can happen with
a real project,” said Shou. Seeing is one thing, he
said. “But more important, do something.”
Willmar Mayor Les Heitke delivered a welcome in Chinese–which
garnered appreciative smiles and applause from the guests–issued
a proclamation endorsing friendship, business and international
cooperation on renewable energy.
“You honor us by coming to our city,” said Heitke.
Making
space for agriculture in Kandiyohi County
By Carolyn Lange, West Central Tribune
Published Friday, April 21, 2006
WILLMAR—Before people build a new home in the country,
they should know a few things about farming—like the
noise, odors and slow seasonal traffic that’s part of
doing business in the country.
To help increase understanding between longtime rural residents
and new country dwellers, a Kandiyohi County ag committee
wants information about agriculture to be given to individuals
when they apply for permits to build a home in the country.
The Agribusiness and Renewable Energy Committee, which is
part of the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic
Development Commission, voted Thursday to recommend that the
two-page documents be given out when people apply for building
permits in rural areas.
The committee will be asking the Kandiyohi County Board of
Commissioners to make the document called, “So you are
moving to the country. . . .What can you expect?” a
mandatory part of the application process. If the County Board
agrees, the 14-point document would be given to anyone applying
for a building permit outside the city limits. The applicant
would be asked to sign his name to the document to acknowledge
reading it.
The effort is part of the committee’s goal to make it
easier for agriculture, especially livestock agriculture,
to grow in the county. The committee has also hired Kim Larson
to meet with all 24 townships in the county to discuss the
economic value of agriculture to the county and the process
for siting livestock operations in townships. The Minnesota
Department of Agriculture has also hired an individual, Rob
Sip, to help counties and townships work through livestock
siting issues. Sip was at the ag committee’s meeting
to lend his support to Kandiyohi County’s ag committee.
Larson said part of the process of working with townships
includes addressing the responsibility of the producer who
wants to develop a feedlot. Larson said producers should meet
with township officers to address issues like soil, water
and air-quality issues, the impact to natural habitat and
the community image of a feedlot proposal.
Larson said he also encourages township supervisors to outline
areas on their township maps that don’t have residential
growth and could be preserved for agriculture.
Currently, none of the county’s townships has adopted
a livestock ordinance. Larson said a township in a nearby
county, which he declined to identify, adopted such an ordinance
that imposed wide buffer zones around homes that left only
a few small dots of land available for livestock agriculture.
Larson said that kind of “knee-jerk” reaction
can be devastating to farmers who want to expand their family
livestock operations.
“As time marches on, these agricultural zones will continue
to shrink,” said Bob Meyerson, a committee member. “Do
we throw up our hands?” he asked. “Or can something
be done?”
Two years ago, at the recommendation of the ag committee,
the Kandiyohi County Board adopted a livestock-supportive
policy. That policy, current zoning regulations and working
with townships will help livestock agriculture retain space
to grow in the county, said Larson.
But Steve Renquist, executive director of the EDC, said urban
sprawl will continue to happen and agriculture will continue
to be at risk in Kandiyohi County unless a more “militant”
step is taken to prevent residential housing in some areas.
He said it’s happened in traditionally rural communities
across the country and it will happen here too unless the
county specifically tells people where housing can happen
and where it can’t. He said cities spell out where industrial,
business and multifamily dwellings can happen and counties
need to do the same kind of zoning or risk losing their agricultural
land.
“But I don’t know if we have the political will
to do that type of zoning,” said Renquist. “No
one likes to be told what to do.”
New
report says annual sales top $1B in Kandiyohi County
Anne Polta, West Central Tribune
Published Tuesday, April 18, 2006
WILLMAR — Cities in the St. Cloud-Twin Cities corridor
have a reputation for growing fast, but Willmar has outstripped
many of them in the number of home building permits being
issued each year.
Kandiyohi County is becoming more affluent as household income
rises. And for the first time, annual sales have hit the $1
billion mark.
The information is contained in a report, issued this past
month, that outlines the demographic and retail sales profile
for the Willmar lakes area.
From real estate agents to economic development officials,
the data can help them quantify how the local economy stacks
up and strategize accordingly, said Cameron Macht, the regional
analyst with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic
Development who prepared the report. Macht collects and analyzes
data for 27 counties in central and southwestern Minnesota.
I’ve found that when you’re presenting this to
an audience, it a lot of times opens their eyes,” he
said. “It really causes them to change their perceptions
of the area.”
The report takes a look at demographics, job and wage growth,
new home construction and retail sales.
Macht collected the data from several sources, such as the
U.S. Census Bureau, the Department of Employment and Economic
Development’s salary and wage program, and regional
labor force assessment. Retail sales information was issued
by the Minnesota Department of Revenue, which reports sales
and use tax data for each Minnesota county as well as selected
larger cities.
Among the findings:
• Since 2003, more than 600 building permits for new
homes have been issued in the city of Willmar and surrounding
areas of Kandiyohi County. The rate of new home construction
in Willmar outpaces that of many of the state’s fastest-growing
communities such as Rogers, Waite Park, Red Wing and Princeton.
• Retail sales in Kandiyohi County surged ahead by 68
percent from 2000 to 2004, reaching more than $750 million.
The city of Willmar accounted for $458 million in retail sales
in 2004.
• Total annual sales—the figure for all categories,
including manufacturing, the wholesale trade, financial and
health care services, hotels, food and beverages—in
Kandiyohi County hit $1.72 billion in 2004. The city of Willmar
had $1.15 billion in total sales in 2004.
• At a time when jobs declined in the metro area, Kandiyohi
County saw job growth. The Twin Cities lost nearly 40,000
jobs between 2000 and 2004, while Kandiyohi County added 350
jobs.
Construction, health care, information, and lodging and food
services are the fastest-growing local industries. Manufacturing
is the top employer in both Willmar and Kandiyohi County,
followed by retail.
Household income still lags behind the state median, but the
gap is narrowing.
In the decade between 1990 and 2000, the percent of Kandiyohi
County households earning $50,000 or more increased, while
the percent of households earning less than $35,000 went down.
Personal income also has been growing faster in Kandiyohi
County than in the United States as a whole. From 1993 to
2003 it rose 33.8 percent.
“It seems that Willmar is healthy and growing. Industry
and employment seem to be relatively diverse, and that seems
to help,” Macht said.
Although manufacturing and agriculture are still king, the
local economy is seeing a gradual shift from goods-producing
industries to more white-collar and service industries, he
said.
Strong annual sales are a positive indication that consumers
have job security and are optimistic about future growth,
he said. “It shows there is consumer confidence.”
Macht said it’s also an indication of how Willmar has
solidified its position as a regional center.
Upcoming
Events
Studio
Hop
Enjoy
touring a variety of artists' studios around New London, Spicer
and Willmar June 24 and 25, 2006. Artists open their
studios to the public and showcase their workspaces, provide
demonstrations and feature works for sale. Participants
follow a map and enjoy a weekend touring the scenic lakes
area while relishing the rich variety of artistic flavor so
prevalent in this region. www.studiohop.org
Spicer's
July 4 Celebration
Spicer's
fourth of July celebration is "One of the Best in the Area."
Besides an arts and crafts fair with an amusing flea market,
everyone will be enjoying volleyball, basketball and softball
tournaments, kiddie pedal tractor pull, a competitive 12-mile
running race and, of course, all the water fun you could ask
for! The street dance along Green Lake is open to all
ages. On the fourth, the kiddie parade starts early
followed by a Grand Day parade, including over 100 participants
with lots of entertainment and candy! To wrap up a
festive weekend, watch the dazzling fireworks light up the
sky over Green Lake. For updated information visit www.spicermn.com
or call (320) 796-5562.
|
