Wadena County Commissioners: Business retention and expansion, tax disparity
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by Trinity Gruenberg
The Wadena County Commissioners held their regular meeting on September 10 at the Wadena City Hall.
Business Retention and
Expansion
Katie Heppner, executive director for the West Central Economic Development Alliance, reviewed the Business retention and expansion (BR and E) report that was 10 months in the making.
The project began in January with the University of Minnesota Extension Office. They recruited 90 volunteers from across the county to survey businesses in the county and formed a task force and leadership team. There were 98 businesses surveyed, the third highest number in the program.
The main objectives for this research were to enhance communication, demonstrate support for local businesses and solve immediate concerns and to identify priorities for economic development.
The university took the data and developed several reports, including a countywide report, one for each city, demographic information and more.
Heppner reviewed the major findings and projects the task force would like to focus on. Included in the 16 page report was a scatter plot that overviewed the project. . . .