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More federal funding to expand broadband, rules to allow the continuation of telemedicine, highway funding and more aid for small businesses are at the top of the list for area rural counties.

Those were the messages county commissioners delivered to U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar during a virtual roundtable she hosted Friday. The three commissioners are board members of the Region Nine Development Commission.

Le Sueur County Commissioner Steve Rohlfing hoped Klobuchar will help push for changes to federal rules to allow telemedicine to continue after the pandemic.

“COVID, like it or not, has really created some new avenues for us. Telemedicine is working and we don’t want that to go away.”

Rohlfing said telemedicine visits not only help with doctor and nurse visits but also with social worker and mental health professional visits.

He said current rules on reimbursement are designed to encourage in-person rather than telemedicine visits.

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FAIRMONT — Fairmont may soon be home to a new business in the form of the Fairmont Brewing Company. Owner and operator Joseph Riemann recently had a request for proposal approved by the Fairmont City Council to secure the Fairmont Senior Citizens building in downtown Fairmont. Riemann grew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and went to college in Minneapolis. He shares how he was drawn to Fairmont.

“My wife and I have a blended family, we have about five kids together from previous marriages, and once COVID hit we started thinking about what working from home could look like,” Riemann said. We wanted to get a better work-life balance as well as improving where we lived.

“We really like the lakes up in Minneapolis and so we thought that if I’m working from home, home could be anywhere so let’s look for some lakes and maybe a more affordable place to live.”

Riemann shared that with the riots that took place in the Twin Cities over the summer of 2020, he was looking for a safer place to raise his children.

“So we looked around and found Fairmont. We took a weekend in September and drove into town and almost immediately seeing the logo on the water tower and driving past the lakes we wondered where had this gem of a city been? The idea of a city of lakes and being able to afford living so close to a chain of lakes just seemed exactly like what we were looking for.”

Riemann shares that he moved here in October and got married at the Yacht Club in November. Since then, he’s had his eyes set on becoming a part of, and contributing to, the Fairmont community.

“With the idea of entrepreneurship, we kind of looked around at some things that we liked, and one of those was the craft beer scene in the city,” Riemann said. “We noticed that, unlike a lot of small towns, there wasn’t a brewpub so that was something that hit high on the list.”

With that in mind, Riemann started talking to potential funders and Linsey Preuss, Fairmont economic development director, as well as some others.

“Everyone had the same kind of overwhelming response of saying that we need a brewpub,” Riemann said. “So we were looking at some commercial real estate a couple of months ago and what potential places might look like when we heard about this building [Fairmont Senior Citizens Center] going up for sale, and we jumped at the opportunity.”

Now that Riemann’s request for proposal has been approved by the city, he states that several different financial steps still need to be taken.

“Right now we’re in the process of talking with the bank and we’re also working with both the city revolving loan fund and Region Nine [Development Commission],” Riemann said. “We’re also working with SMIF [Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation], basically, the who’s who of normal loan funds who do economic development in Southern Minnesota. So it’s just a matter of tying up all those, which a lot of that was dependent upon an actual physical location.”

Despite all that still needs to happen, Riemann shares that he is excited about the future.

“We really fell in love with Fairmont, and we’re hoping to have the brewery be more than just locally brewed beer. We really want to try and lift up the people and history of Fairmont,” Riemann said. “We’re excited about it.”

For those interested in keeping up with Riemann’s progress, they can sign up for emails at www.fairmontbrewing.com. Riemann states that he hopes to be open sometime in the summer this year.

View the article here.

Region Nine Development Commission (RNDC) is an EDA-designated Economic Development District (EDD) focused on fostering economic development in a nine-county region in southern Minnesota.

Located in Mankato, RNDC’s service area is predominantly white but quickly diversifying. To address diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues, RNDC infuses these efforts into its economic development work.

“It’s not just an addendum chapter or vague language in a plan. Rather, we incorporate DEI principles into all the work that we are doing,” said Nicole Griensewic, Executive Director of RNDC.

In 2015, as the population became more diverse, Griensewic was questioned about how RNDC planned to incorporate the changing demographics into their plans to deal with equity gaps.

She quickly got a grant and subcontracted a local non-profit to help them start conversations about race. The result was the Welcoming Communities Program, which includes discussions among stakeholders and DEI training. Other EDA EDDs have since adopted the program.

Griensewic’s eagerness to try new things to make economic development better and more inclusive has helped her colleagues across the country.

“I often seek Nicole out as an innovator in our industry,” said Kevin Byrd, president of the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO). “She takes a lot of measured risks, which helps our whole industry. She is constantly thinking further out there.”

Frank discussions and DEI trainings are just the beginning, said Griensewic, a native Minnesotan who came to RNDC in 2012.

“We’re looking around the proverbial table and asking, ‘Who is not here?’” she said. “We started with race and are now talking about gender, veterans, and immigrants.”

Being inclusive is smart economic development, she said. According to state data, projections indicate a labor shortage in the RNDC service area that could eventually cost the region and its trading partners roughly $1.7 billion per year. Population declines are trending in six of the nine RNDC counties. Meanwhile, people of color are the fastest growing combined groups in all of the counties.

“I am a very blunt person,” Griensewic said. “Looking at the numbers, if we don’t get ahead of this, we can’t even talk about economic recovery and resiliency. We don’t need a wall; we need a red carpet. This is what businesses are telling us.”

RNDC’s engagement with stakeholders has led to conversations about farmers adapting halal slaughtering techniques, women and transportation, and other issues.

Griensewic’s expansive view of economic development possibly stems from a background that doesn’t include economic development. She previously worked as an in-store executive at Target, and her private sector experience was viewed as an asset by the RNDC board.

Byrd, president of NADO and Executive Director of the New River Valley Regional Commission in Radford, Virginia (also an EDD), said that more female EDD executive directors are taking the helms as leadership changes. In the Chicago region, 22 of the 48 EDDs are led by females.

“We are starting to observe a sea change of leadership,” Byrd said. “Many long-serving male leaders are retiring, and female leaders are being appointed.”

Griensewic is believed to have been the youngest executive director of RNDC when she was hired. She isn’t afraid to ask questions when she doesn’t have the answers or try new things to find a solution.

“I don’t have time to be shy,” she said.

Region Nine Development Commission (RNDC) is an EDA-designated Economic Development District (EDD) focused on fostering economic development in a nine-county region in southern Minnesota.

Located in Mankato, RNDC’s service area is predominantly white but quickly diversifying. To address diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues, RNDC infuses these efforts into its economic development work.

“It’s not just an addendum chapter or vague language in a plan. Rather, we incorporate DEI principles into all the work that we are doing,” said Nicole Griensewic, Executive Director of RNDC.

In 2015, as the population became more diverse, Griensewic was questioned about how RNDC planned to incorporate the changing demographics into their plans to deal with equity gaps.

She quickly got a grant and subcontracted a local non-profit to help them start conversations about race. The result was the Welcoming Communities Program, which includes discussions among stakeholders and DEI training. Other EDA EDDs have since adopted the program.

Griensewic’s eagerness to try new things to make economic development better and more inclusive has helped her colleagues across the country.

“I often seek Nicole out as an innovator in our industry,” said Kevin Byrd, president of the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO). “She takes a lot of measured risks, which helps our whole industry. She is constantly thinking further out there.”

Frank discussions and DEI trainings are just the beginning, said Griensewic, a native Minnesotan who came to RNDC in 2012.

“We’re looking around the proverbial table and asking, ‘Who is not here?’” she said. “We started with race and are now talking about gender, veterans, and immigrants.”

Being inclusive is smart economic development, she said. According to state data, projections indicate a labor shortage in the RNDC service area that could eventually cost the region and its trading partners roughly $1.7 billion per year. Population declines are trending in six of the nine RNDC counties. Meanwhile, people of color are the fastest growing combined groups in all of the counties.

“I am a very blunt person,” Griensewic said. “Looking at the numbers, if we don’t get ahead of this, we can’t even talk about economic recovery and resiliency. We don’t need a wall; we need a red carpet. This is what businesses are telling us.”

RNDC’s engagement with stakeholders has led to conversations about farmers adapting halal slaughtering techniques, women and transportation, and other issues.

Griensewic’s expansive view of economic development possibly stems from a background that doesn’t include economic development. She previously worked as an in-store executive at Target, and her private sector experience was viewed as an asset by the RNDC board.

Byrd, president of NADO and Executive Director of the New River Valley Regional Commission in Radford, Virginia (also an EDD), said that more female EDD executive directors are taking the helms as leadership changes. In the Chicago region, 22 of the 48 EDDs are led by females.

“We are starting to observe a sea change of leadership,” Byrd said. “Many long-serving male leaders are retiring, and female leaders are being appointed.”

Griensewic is believed to have been the youngest executive director of RNDC when she was hired. She isn’t afraid to ask questions when she doesn’t have the answers or try new things to find a solution.

“I don’t have time to be shy,” she said.

View the article here.