Local resident Jim Boyd would like to see Cook County thrive. A key component of a thriving community is a healthy business climate. On December 13, 2011, Boyd introduced the county board to a tool that could be used to boost Cook County’s business climate and asked for their support in using that tool.
University of Minnesota Extension has an initiative called the Community Leaders Business Retention and Expansion (BR&E) Program: A Community Consensus Approach to Encourage the Success of Local Businesses. Using a systematic method, the program gathers community leaders to assess local business challenges and opportunities, address short-term problems, and implement a long-term action plan.
Boyd called it “an extended community conversation lasting from a year to 18 months.”
According to University of Minnesota Extension’s website, “The BR&E Strategies program has been used by over 60 Minnesota communities, including neighborhoods, cities, counties, and groups of counties.
“…In many communities, citizens and local leaders think about their future but are not working together to influence that future. BR&E programs can bring the community together. Business persons, local government officials, education officials, professional developers, and interested citizens all work together for the benefit of existing local businesses and their community.”
The BR&E program helps “identify barriers local businesses face as they try to survive and grow,” the website goes on to say. “With the help of Extension and UMN experts, the community surveys small businesses and analyzes the results.
“…The program also establishes an economic development plan for the community and a broad-based community coalition to sustain longterm economic development efforts.” At the end of the process, a written report is generated. “BR&E reports don’t sit on a shelf,” the website states. “By addressing common business concerns, the community insures a healthier future for itself. …Because the BR&E process strengthens community ties, ideas turn to action.”
Hope for EDA involvement
According to Boyd, some community members believe the focus of the Cook County/ Grand Marais Economic Development Authority (EDA) should expand beyond Superior National at Lutsen Golf Course in Lutsen and Cedar Grove Business Park in Grand Marais. He believes a Minnesota Extension BR&E project could result in diversification of the local economy as well as continued support for the tourism industry.
Boyd said Cedar Grove Business Park lots, largely unsold several years after development, are likely to be sold to businesses already here. The University of Minnesota Extension website stated that 40-80 percent of new jobs are created by existing firms.
“It was not the EDA board’s idea to investigate the BR&E,” Boyd said. “The idea grew out of discussions around the EDA’s need for a website and whether it should hire an outside firm to develop that website at a cost of $10,000 to $13,000. Because I am involved in many activities related to the Internet, I asked some University [of Minnesota] colleagues for advice. Some of them know Cook County well. I showed them the EDA mission statement, and we discussed the EDA’s low standing in some quarters, plus its fairly narrow focus on Superior National and Cedar Grove Business Park.
“What I kept hearing back was that Cook County really could benefit from undertaking a Business Retention & Expansion project. It could help confront and resolve questions about the EDA’s proper role, about the resources the EDA needs to do its job well, and similar questions. It could evoke a discussion about the importance tourism plays here and how to properly support that industry. It could confront the resentment some in Cook County continue to harbor over what they see as our overreliance on tourism.
“It could explore the desire many, including myself, have for diversifying the county economy and finding ways to help create jobs that entice more young people and more young families to live in Cook County. In doing that, it could entail a needed discussion around the fact that economic diversification does not whatsoever entail an attack on tourism.”
The EDA’s mission is “to diversify the economy and create year-round, livablewage employment for Cook County through the preservation and expansion of existing businesses and development of new business that is environmentally responsible, respects multiple use and enhances the unique attractiveness of our area.”
Long-time commissioner Jan Hall wasn’t immediately sold on the proposal, saying projects similar to this had been done in the past, most recently a study conducted by the University of Minnesota- Crookston. Boyd was familiar with that study, and he said the No. 1 recommendation to come out of it was that a community discussion be initiated.
Commissioner Sue Hakes said she was concerned that the EDA wouldn’t generate the follow-through needed to make use of a project like this. She suggested that if the community implemented a BR&E process, it should be placed in the hands of the business community. Commissioner and EDA liaison Bruce Martinson agreed, saying, “The EDA needs to engage the community.” Boyd said he sees this as a way to help the EDA become more effective.
According to Boyd, the BR&E process is a recognized program that is required for a municipality to become certified or re-certified as a “star city.”
The board discussed concerns about the type of leadership currently in place with the EDA staff and board. Boyd said that he was aware of these concerns but that people tend to just “stew” about them rather than doing something that would bring about positive change. A BR&E project would “start the ball in motion,” he said.
Boyd told the board he would be presenting this project to the EDA later that day. If the EDA voted to support it, he said, “then it commits to significant change.”
Hiring Minnesota Extension to facilitate a BR&E project would cost about $15,000. The EDA recently decided against paying a website design firm, Golden Shovel of Little Falls, the $12,500 it said it would charge to develop a website. Boyd suggested that the EDA use that money to help pay for this project instead.
Boyd told the county board he was hoping to get their endorsement for this project as well as several thousand dollars in support. Commissioner Fritz Sobanja said it would be good to get the business community to help pay for a project like this. The board took no action on the proposal at this time.
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