[Music] hello Cottage Grove I'm council member Dave thei here with this month's Council update today I'm excited to shine a spotlight on the economic development activity in the city and specifically the businesses that are located in our city Business Park I moved to Cottage Grove in 1998 and got involved with a city in 2004 and have been on Council since 2010 and having a background in manufacturing distribution and operations management I was very excited in creating fertile soil for the development of commercial businesses Cottage Grove already had a good start when I arrived in 1981 Renewal by Anderson selected the city as an ideal location for their growing business after seeing the success of renewal the city began thinking of ways to Spur additional Economic Development and grow our business base in 1986 the city council created an economic development Authority the Eda has statutory powers to work with property owners investors and developers to help retain and expand businesses in the city and to attract new businesses one of the first initiatives of the Eda board was to reach out to the owners of the land surrounding Renewal by Anderson with the idea of creating a city Business Park much of the nearby land was owned by the Glen Denning Family Trust the Family Trust was interested in selling the Family Farm to developers however being raw land with no city services it made the marketability of the property challenging the Eda proposed to the Family Trust that they make the necessary infrastructure improvements to create the business park and in return the Family Trust would allow the Eda to act as the marketing team for the newly created created Business Park this process involved the Eda entering into an agreement with the Family Trust to purchase a land and then sell to the developer or company wishing to locate there as a part of the land sales a portion of the proceeds would go to the Eda for the public improvements that were made in the business park the relationship with the Glen Denning Family Trust has worked well over the past 23 years and the Business Park is still expanding today with Renewal by Anderson having completed their fourth expansion in 2022 the creation of the business park ranks as one of the most successful Economic Development initiatives that the city has ever undertaken economic development is a top priority for the city council and we recognize that prosperous business owners quality jobs and increased tax base all help to create value that is equal to more amenities in Revenue at lower cost to Residents creating a city where people want to work live and play the evolving City business part Park is now home to more than 25 businesses including northp Point development upnorth Plastics Van Meter electric Northstar sheets and many others three of the newest businesses to locate in the business park are hoen Stein's a beverage Distribution Company RJ shinner a wholesale redistributor of paper food service and janitorial products and finally Quick Trip who has selected a site in the park at Jamaica Avenue South and 95th Street the businesses in the park currently employ more than 2500 workers and we estimate that once the park is fully built out that an additional 3,000 to 4,000 new jobs will be added the increase in jobs will come in part from the North Point development who has completed two of their nine proposed buildings which will add approximately 1,300 jobs the remaining jobs will result from the potential sale of property by 3M to Commercial and Industrial developers the recent decommissioning of their incinerator has opened approximately 500 Acres of excess property for development 3M has also agreed to allow the city to include this additional acreage in the small area study we have commissioned to look at all of the parcels that are currently along the south side of Highway 61 including the area known as Langdon Village new development will bring more employment opportunities for those who wish to live and work in the city and we will actively continue to seek new commercial and indust industrial companies with strong company cultures that provide good wages as one of our top priorities thereby creating greater value to learn more about the cottage Grove's Economic Development efforts you can sign up via our econnect service to receive weekly business and economic development updates if you want to learn more about company's hiring in the business park or if you're looking to expand or relocate your business you can reach out to the city's economic development director Gretchen Larson this has been your Council update I'm Dave thei have a great day [Music] [Music]