Although Borderland and the state face serious issues, state and federal officials representing this area brought ideas to the table to help mitigate concerns and grow existing positives.
State Sen. Tom Saxhaug and Peter Makowski, staff assistant to U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, met with the Koochiching Economic Development Authority Board at the AmericInn Wednesday.
After routine business was conducted, lunch and a roundtable discussion continued. This allowed Saxhaug and Makowski time to discuss topics brought by the KEDA Board.
Oberstar was scheduled to attend the meeting, but a family emergency kept him from coming to International Falls.
KEDA Director Paul Nevanen updated the group that tree clearing in the foreign trade zone has been completed and some grubbing is being done by Koochiching County at the site.
“If you haven’t been out to the site, I encourage you to see some progress, see some movement,” Nevanen said.
The clearing and grubbing work is one of the first steps towards getting the FTZ lots “build-ready.” Koochiching County and International Falls have been in discussions, both individually and in the KEDA Board, since April regarding a plan to blast and crush rock at the FTZ.
Makowski referred to the FTZ during the round table, saying, “When you’ve settled your differences, we’re more than willing to be of assistance.”
Makowski said that although he’s seen skirmishes in this area, he’s “always been impressed with the way this area comes together.”
He also praised the city of International Falls for increasing its paramedic advanced life support service. He called the increase in personnel an economic development tool and a “real life saver.”
“It is big, it is big,” he said. “I have seen the differences those services make.”
The group also discussed cellular telephone service and high-speed Internet access. Several options of new services or extensions of services being made in the area were noted. But Makowski said he realizes there are spots where little communications services are available.
“It’s a valuable part of our infrastructure,” Makowski assured the group.
Commissioner Mike Hanson also discussed electricity service rate increases.
“People enjoy very dependable service from both Minnesota Power and Northstar Electric,” he said.
In the last nine years, however, wholesale power from Northstar Electric has increased in price by 90 percent, he said. The retail rate, he said, has risen between 30 and 40 percent over that time. Additional increases in price are expected over the next few years, he warned.
Hanson said the increase in price has to do with the increase in renewable energy, the recession and regulations from such agencies as the Environmental Protection Agency.
Hanson told Makowski and Saxhaug that the area is close to losing competitive advantages in the price of electricity due to the increases in wholesale rates. “Up here right now it’s a particularly hard impact,” he said.
Makowski provided an example of a bank in Chisholm that added solar panels to the building and changed lighting, reducing electric consumption and costs by more than half.
Saxhaug discussed the importance of education in this area. He said while the area has successful institutions, the work force must rise to meet the demands of employers.
“We simply don’t have qualified people for a lot of the jobs that are available,” he said. “I think with our (Minnesota State Colleges and University), university and private college system in Minnesota, that we’re poised to do some great things. But we have to continue to invest in it.”
“Things are coming along up here at Rainy River,” Saxhaug said of the local community college. “But I think because we’re so isolated up here you do have some real opportunities to work the high school and community college together — 13 years have been mentioned, and different things. ... This place isn’t going anywhere.”
He said the five-college northeast district system leads the way in efficiencies, noting the cross-campus programs that have been used.
Makowski also stressed the importance of a college education for area workers, “Now, if you don’t have a two-year degree, you’re not getting in the door,” he said of some large regional employers due to competition for jobs.
Saxhaug also described three options to balance a $6 billion state budget deficit: make cuts, shift payments to other years and raise revenue.
Reductions to local government aid to the county would have huge implications to Koochiching, Commissioner Wade Pavleck told Saxhaug, noting a proposed $1 million reduction to this area’s aid.
“There’s going to have to be some efficiencies,” Saxhaug told the group.
Pavleck described joint projects with other counties, including a prison in Duluth, in which the northern counties have joined together to save money.
Creativity and efficiency in programming throughout the state became the dominant message brought by the legislators, who will take the information gained in their visits to Borderland as they prepare for upcoming decisions.
