ANNUAL REPORT

The Wright County Partnership Exists to Enhance The business Climate Of Wright County & promote Organized Economic Development To Fulfill That Mission The Partnership Pursues several Strategies:

• Information Resources & Technical Assistance
  
• Business Development & Business Retention & Expansion
  
• Gap Financing
  
• Seminars and Workshops
  
• Site Promotion & Location
  
• Marketing the County
  
• Workforce Development
  

1. Information Resources & Technical Assistance
   Technical Assistance is a term that describes anything other than financial assistance. It includes helping people find out information about Wright County. For businesses it can mean making a connection to a resource or advice about starting a business. For cities it can mean grant writing assistance or strategic planning.

   1. Small Business Development Center (SBDC)
      The Wright County SBDC satellite office continued to meet with Wright County businesses or individuals working on a financial plan once a month in Buffalo to provide them with free technical assistance. In total, the SBDC assisted 14 business minded individuals in Wright County with business plans, cash flow analysis and industry trends. The satellite office was staffed on the third Wednesday of each month from 10 am to 5 p.m at the Buffalo Library, located between Buffalo Lake and the county government center.
   2. Other
      Contacts with organizations like Minnesota Technology and Minnesota Department of Trade and Economic Development and other developers throughout the region bring valuable networking, which is spread through contact with our Executive Director, Noel LaBIne.
      
      Also, opportunities to learn how programs work, and a chance to network with business and government people is provided through meetings, seminars, and workshops put on by the Partnership.
      
      
2. Business Development
   
   1. Business Recruitment, Retention, Expansion (BRRE) Visits
      The Partnership believes that a majority of our economic growth will come from our existing businesses. To that end, we have spent considerable time visiting with businesses in Wright County learning about their industry, the challenges they face and promoting their retention and growth where they are. We also realize we need to diversify our economy and bring in new businesses.
      
      In the year 2002, the Partnership conducted 9 visits to Wright County businesses. The resources of the Partnership and the city in which they are located are promoted and the businesses are encouraged to tap into those resources. We also advocate the use of our member products and services such as the Monticello WorkForce Center, Wright Technical Center and Functional Industries. These agencies can assist our businesses with solving their labor problems. Member financial institutions and utilities are also promoted due to their financial programs that can assist with a business expansion.
      
      The BRE visits have resulted in the Partnership helping two businesses in their expansion plans.
      
      
3. Gap Financing
   
   1. Wright County Enterprise Loan Fund
      The Economic Development Partnership of Wright County manages the Wright County Enterprise Loan Fund for the County. The Fund has realized some of the problems of the recession over the last year and the cash balance at the year end was $57,630 with about 190,000 in outstanding loans to nine companies. One of those companies went out of business and we still are waiting to realize a recovery of assets totaling $30,000.
   2. Minnesota Community Capital Fund:
      This flexible loan fund is designed to leverage millions of dollars of under-utilized capital within dozens of relatively small Revolving Loan Funds (RLFs). With the $25,000 now invested by Wright County, a business approved by our organization can apply for loans with a single maximum loan amount of $250,000. The loans will then be sold by MCCF on the secondary market, freeing up another $250,000 potential for loans in our community. This will allow us to be a bigger player than our current maximum loan of $25,000. It also offers professional loan management assistance at no charge.

 

4. Seminars & Workshops
   Public events are another community benefit that our members support. The Partnership hosted a Business Resource 2001 Breakfast in Delano in November. The attendees, exhibitors and presenters were all very pleased with the event. We intend to hold a similar workshop in 2003. The Partnership also hosted a Administrators’ Luncheon with a one hour presentation by Minnesota Technology partner, Kent Myrhman, who taught everyone present a few tricks about how to improve their use of the program, Outlook . Once again the Partnership continued its practice of inviting the entire membership to its monthly Board meetings.
   
5. Site Promotion & Location
   
1. Developing Contacts
   Through personal visits to developers and Realtors in the West Metro Area, and through attendance at Site Location Events, the Executive Director has worked and continues to work to promote Wright County and the available sites in the County for potential development.
   
2. Business Leads
   The Economic Development Partnership of Wright County generated 4 leads this year for our cities to respond to. (This brings our lead generation to 31 since July 1999.)
   
6. Marketing
   
   1. Web page
      
   • The Economic Development Partnership of Wright County’s web page received a facelift at the end of 2001.
     
   • The site is very friendly to view and search for data. It has three searchable databases for land, buildings and communities.
     Throughout 2002, traffic to our site has increased.
     
   • Our web designer, Nora Livesay, has assisted us with improvements to our site in 2002.
     
   • We have added a page for listing events that we are planning.
   • We have added the option of paying for our events on line.
     
   • We have also added a place to post our monthly newsletter.
     
   • We also have technical support from John Blood who has assisted with the proper placement of our site on search engines and creating links to other appropriate sites.
     
   • We have made an effort to get more of our members and partners to link to our site.
     
   • The end result has been a steady increase in the visits to our site. Check out our site at www.wrightpartnership.org.

    

   2. Marketing Committee
      During 2002, the marketing committee of the Economic Development Partnership of Wright County spent more time discussing new, clever ways to market the county to our external audiences. The committee has continued to forego advertising in business publications and recommended spending resources on personal “marketing” visits to builders, contractors and site locators.
      
      The committee created a series of four marketing postcards that were distributed in 2002 at the end of January, February, March and April to hit site locators’ desks at a time when site searches are typically up. Each postcard has its own theme and the themes include development, workforce, location, and quality of life. The series were followed up with personal “marketing” visits.
      The personal marketing visits were all cold calls. Our new Executive Director, Noel LaBine, stopped and visited with about 50 developers and Realtors. The other effort that was made to contact developers and site locators was to attend site location events and once again personally visit with these people. Some of our printed material was left with these people after these encounters. This effort to meet with the people who make location decisions will continue into 2003.
   3. Other
      Other marketing activities:
      
   • Use the infrastructure information from Wright County cities so that when inquiries come in, the Partnership was well equipped to answer basic questions on our communities.
     
   • Presented to 11organizations regarding the Partnership and its activities.
     
7. Workforce Development
   
   1. Labor Study
      Wright County was fortunate to have a labor skills assessment study of our residents in 2001. We continue to make available the results of this study. Understanding the labor force is important to economic development agencies like ours. This is a resource that provides reliable data to support current businesses, expand existing firms and attract additional firms to the area.
      
      The information is critical in determining the direction and policy of the Economic Development Partnership of Wright County. This information is also very valuable to employment agencies, educational institutions, local governments and businesses. (based upon percentage of participants surveyed)
      Some abbreviated highlights from the study:
      • 41% of Wright County workers reported receiving a salary of $40,000 or more.
        
      • 61% of Wright County workers have an education greater than a high school diploma.
        
      • 53% of Wright County residents are employed in other counties, 36% in Hennepin.
        
      • 36% reported traveling 31or more minutes to work one-way.
        
      • Occupations that residents commuted more than 30 miles one-way: office/administrative, construction, management, installation/ maintenance/repair, computer/math professionals, architecture/ engineering; healthcare; building/grounds; farming; transportation.
      Clearly there are some very educated, talented people in Wright County. By letting more company leaders know about this worker profile, we may be able to attract more good paying jobs here.
      
      The entire study can be found on our web page, www.wrightpartnership.org.
      
   2. Workforce Development Committee
      The Workforce Development Committee met less frequently in 2002, and a sub-committee worked to transfer the management of the School to Work program to Central Minnesota Jobs & Training in Monticello.
      
      The sub-committee also worked on a second application to the Minnesota Department of Health for a $20,000 Healthcare Careers Awareness and Promotions grant. The purpose of the grant is to develop curriculum in the high schools that will train students with skills needed for the variety of career options available in the healthcare industry. Awards are possibly going to be held back due to state budget problems.
      

Management

Former Executive Director, Heidi Peper, left the Partnership in mid-April. The new Executive Director, Noel LaBine started working for the Partnership in June. The transition resulted in a gap of some of the services the Partnership provides. With the help of part-time assistant, Jeanene Strum the transition has been smooth, and plans for new events and an ambitious marketing effort lend promise for 2003.

Our Member/ Partners

Memberships/Sponsorships Membership continued to provide great financial support to the Partnership in 2002. We have added more new members,bringing our total membership to 53.

A Partnership Directory is available. This directory provides contact information and a description of services offered by our members. It is inserted in our marketing folder to provide greater exposure for our members.

When private industry membership and sponsorship revenues are combined, it represents over 61% in private sector support. This is a testament to how important economic development is to our partners. We will continue to work hard to promote economic development in Wright County.

 

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