| ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PAST PROJECTS

Ingenuity Frontier Cluster Development Project
Northwest Minnesota will soon be known as the Ingenuity
Frontier, the place for knowledge and innovation in the
field of applied engineering. For the past three
years, the HRDC has been working in
close partnership with the Northwest MN Foundation (NMF), Northwest Technical
College (NTC), Bemidji State University (BSU) and the
MN Department of Employment and Economic Development
(DEED) to identify and build upon the Region’s
largest cluster of knowledge: applied
engineering. Our
goals have been to:
- Attract, educate and train the best and the brightest
technicians and applied engineers in the upper Midwest.
- Provide career path opportunities focused on applied
engineering, manufacturing and technology for our own
students starting at the middle school level.
- Be on the leading edge of industry innovation through
state-of-the-art technology and industry-led research
and development.
Why applied engineering? First, we already have
a competitive edge in the field. Per capita, the
region has one of the highest concentrations of engineering
and engineering type positions in the upper Midwest. Secondly,
applied engineering skills are highly in demand. Project
growth in the market for applied engineering skills is
strong, and they are very good jobs. Finally, the
need for applied engineering spans a number of industries
prevalent in our region, from recreational vehicles to
agricultural and forest products.
The partnership is presently in process of implementing
a targeted Investment Strategy which will further the
region’s competitive edge. Specifically,
the Ingenuity Frontier’s Investment Strategy includes:
- Having a minimum of six school districts in the region
implement Project Lead the Way.
- Offering an honorary summer technology academy for
top PLTW students in the region.
- Providing coordinated internship opportunities throughout
the region.
- Annually providing ten scholarships for PLTW graduates
to further their applied engineering careers.
- Fourteen Northern Minnesota higher educational institutions
working together to offer a 2 + 2 approach to an applied
engineering education.
- A $1 million seed capital fund for industry growth
and development.
- A nationally accredited BS Degree in Manufacturing
Engineering Technology.
- A nationally accredited BAS degree in Applied Engineering
Technology, deliverable on site or at a distance.
- A Center for Applied Engineering Manufacturing and
Technology.
- A targeted marketing campaign to students, employees
and businesses.
The Ingenuity Frontier’s most recent strategy
has been to introduce the IDEA project (the Ingenuity
Frontier’s Entrepreneur Accelerator project). Through
this project, the Ingenuity Frontier will focus significant
effort in 2008 and 2009 on working with selected entrepreneurs
to move their ideas from concept to becoming actual products
that can be sold.


Bemidji
Regional Airport Economic Development Initiative
The Bemidji-Beltrami Airport is the fourth busiest in
Minnesota. In addition to its use for passenger
flights, the airport serves many other entities, including
Fed-Ex, UPS, BIA, Life Flight, DNR and private aircraft. Upon
complete implementation of its 5-year, $13 million Airport
Improvements Plan, the airport’s infrastructure
will be second to none. This will enable the Airport
to meet the ever-growing needs and demands for air service.
Immediately adjacent to the Airport, roughly 200 acres
of land have been incorporated into Tax-Free Job Opportunity
Building Zones (JOBZ). The land will be developed
into lots for business startups and expansions, and direct
airport access will be available to these businesses.
For two years, the Headwaters RDC assisted a coalition
of organizations to explore how this Airport, its adjacent
JOBZ land, and the community’s many other assets
could be leveraged to spur economic activity within the
Region. The effort was a collaborative venture
of the major economic, governmental, and institutional
organizations of the area, including the Minnesota Department
of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), the JEDC,
Beltrami County, the City of Bemidji and the HRDC.
Through their hard work, members of this collaborative
venture achieved the following outcomes:
- Identified the specific assets that give the Bemidji-area
its competitive advantage over other similar-sized
communities.
- Completed a multi-faceted market assessment which
yielded a targeted list of businesses to whom marketing
activities will occur.
- Developed an investment strategy that provides general
guidance for undertaking necessary infrastructure improvements
on the land adjacent to the Airport.
- Created a very aggressive plan to market the Bemidji
area to new and expanding businesses.
It is well-known that the best-laid strategies and plans
mean nothing if they are not implemented effectively. The
Headwaters RDC continues to work with key individuals
in implementing a formalized structure which is being
used to move forward this initiative. This structure
designates the Airport Commission to provide general
project oversight, appoints a Steering Committee to oversee
the project details; and also to be a part of actual
marketing visits to businesses when appropriate, and
designates the Joint Economic Development Commission
to undertake ongoing administration of the marketing
component of the project on a day to day basis.


White Earth Tribal and Community College
Seeks EDA Funding for Campus Development
Over the past three years, the Headwaters RDC has very
actively worked with the leaders of the Seventh Generation
Community Stewardship Initiative. The leaders have
listed “education” as their first building
block towards achieving their vision of “creating
a prosperous community that creates ever expanding opportunity
for all of its residents through educational excellence.” Within
this building block these leaders have established an
education-related goal of having a “fully accredited
Tribal and Community College on a new campus by 2010”.
Though it was established in 1997, and continues to
grow rapidly, the White Earth Tribal and Community College
has never had a campus. To this point, they have
rented buildings throughout the City of Mahnomen to house
their programs and classes. Unfortunately, the
College has run out of space, and there are no more buildings
to rent. Without these buildings, the College cannot
expand its programs or courses. Nor can it expand
its enrollment any further.
A year ago, the White Earth Tribal and Community College
asked the Headwaters RDC to help locate funding to construct
a new college campus. The City of Mahnomen had
donated 20 acres of land in the Mahnomen Industrial Park
and the College was seeking funding to construct its
campus buildings on this site.
With the assistance of the Headwaters RDC, an application
was submitted to the Economic Development Administration
(EDA) for $1.5 million in funding to construct an Innovation,
Technology and Entrepreneurship Center. In December,
the College was invited by the EDA to submit a full application
for this project.
If funded, the Center will be a free standing building
which will house the College’s Business, Science,
Math, Technology, Applied Engineering and Entrepreneurial
Programs. It is estimated that the Center
will be an 11,237 square foot brick building. Eventually,
a 10’ – 15’ corridor will connect the
Center to the remainder of the Campus buildings, which
the College is committed to developing at a later time. To
assist with the project, the White Earth Tribal Council
has committed $600,000.
Within the coming months, the goal of the Seventh Generation
Stewards may be well on its way to achievement. The
College will undergo its full-accreditation process this
spring. Furthermore, if EDA funding is received,
construction of the first building on the College Campus
will be initiated.
The EDA funding application is presently under review
in Washington D.C.


Economic
Development Administration Approves Bemidji Industrial
Park Expansion
In 1962, a group of progressive Bemidji residents saw
potential for industrial development in Bemidji, and organized
the Bemidji Development Corporation (BDC). Shortly
thereafter, they began acquiring land on the south side
of the City, and the Bemidji Industrial Park was created. Through
their leadership and willingness to partner with the City
over the past 40 years, the Bemidji Development Corporation
has led the Industrial Park’s growth through three
expansions. Because of their leadership, the Park
presently contains more than 175 acres, houses 48 businesses,
and employs roughly 1,200 people and has an annual payroll
in excess of $28 million.
In recent years, the business growth within the Industrial
Park has been very strong. About seven lots per year
have been sold. This rapid growth created the need
to expand the Industrial Park. In response to this,
the Headwaters Regional Development Commission worked with
the City and the Bemidji Development Corporation to obtain
funds to expand the Industrial Park. In September,
2007, they were awarded $1.2 million in EDA funds. The
funds will be used to develop 35 additional industrial lots
through expansion of the Park’s infrastructure.

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