Debbie Bowman will serve as Olesen’s alternate

The Koochiching Economic Authority Board agreed Wednesday to appoint Soren Olesen to an at-large position on the board.

Last month, the position was vacated by Mike Fairchild of Littlefork. Three people applied for the open seat: Olesen of Birchdale, Debbie Bowman of rural International Falls, and Linda Dreher of Northome.

Olesen has previous experience with the board, serving as Fairchild’s alternate.

On a 3-1 vote, the board agreed to appoint Bowman as Olesen’s alternate, with acting board Chairman Mike Hanson voting against the motion. Chairman Allen Rasmussen was absent from the meeting.

“I am not going to support the nomination,” Hanson said. “It has nothing to do with the person making application. To me, it has to do with zip codes...If we can get someone from the south part of the county, it can only help.”

In other business Wednesday, KEDA Director Paul Nevanen provided an update on an agreement with a company to build a second cold box at Falls International Airport.

“At long last, it appears we do have a five-year agreement to construct a second cold box at the airport,” Nevanen said.

He explained that the process of settling on an agreement was delayed because the company wanted a five-year extension included in the agreement.

“After a lot of back and forth, we did agree on a number and this actually becomes a 10-year agreement, which is in unheard of in the auto industry as long as I’ve been involved,” Nevanen said.

A final draft has been submitted for the company’s review.

Hanson asked if Nevanen was at a point where he could identify the company.

“I’d rather wait until we get that final sign off,” Nevanen said. “It is a British auto manufacturer.”

Nevanen added that the company will likely participate in the 2012-13 cold weather testing season.

In other business, the board heard from Jenny Dougherty, business consultant for the Small Business Development Center. In a quarterly update to the board about SBDC activity, Dougherty said she has logged 166 client consulting hours for the year.

“That number is up compared to last year’s 86 hours,” she said.

Dougherty told the board she will continue to work with in-town as well as out-of-town clients as the year progresses.

Dougherty also discussed the SBDC’s role in bringing February’s CEOs in the Classroom to local schools and said she viewed the program as a success.

“I like that the program includes so much follow up,” she said.