photo by Kelly Virden

DEED Commissioner Matt Kramer, accompanied by DEED Regional Representatives Kari Howe (NW) and Mark Lofthus (West Metro), met with area members of the Cass County Economic Development Corporation before touring Hunt Utilities Group and Trussworthy Components.

Pine River, Backus and Hackensack mayors were present at the meeting along with business owners and members of Pine River's economic development group.

"Do you know your laborshed?" asked Kramer - in other words, are the people in the area getting the training and skills to get into the workforce?

On a statewide basis the skilled trades are in need of trained workers, he said.

Pine River Mayor Jim Sabas said that there's not a lot of industry in Pine River, but the city has a tenant in its industrial park that sat vacant for 26 years. "I see a future for Pine River," Sabas said.

photo by Riann Meyer

Trussworthy Components, owned by Craig Anderson, is slated to begin production in March. The truss manufacturing company will hire approximately 15 employees this summer and an additional 5-7 employees for the next two summers, Anderson said.

Hunt Utilities Group, a straw bale and cob facility east of Pine River, focuses on environmentally-friendly building and living.

Both Anderson and Lynn Hunt of HUG were present during the meeting and led the tours.

As for the youth in the community "We're trying to create an environment where they want to come back (to live)," Sabas told Kramer.

Kramer suggested that the metro area is a good spot to recruit workers from. He suggested holding job fairs in the cities - bringing in business partners from greater Minnesota seeking employees.

Kramer said a misconception about DEED is that they spend most of their time recruiting businesses. Rather, the majority of what they do is to provide entrepreneurial and local business support. He mentioned a piece of legislation that will likely be passed next session regarding Regional Angel Investment Loans. The Angel Loans would allow individuals to invest money in area businesses and get a tax break in return.

CCEDC Director Gail Leverson said a common challenge for area resorts is how to transfer from a seasonal business to a yearround business.

Another challenge for businesses recruiting is the accessibility of healthcare.

Backus Mayor Cloie Smith told Kramer about Backus resident's desire to have a hospital or clinic built there.

"If we want a healthcare facility, we need to establish that we have the doctors, registered nurses...to sustain the job market," Kramer responded.

Smith said she has talked to people who would be interested in moving to Backus to work if there was a health facility there. "I think it'll snowball if we get confirmation that there will be healthcare in our community," she said.