Clay County Commission 

Dan Haglund

More than 100 area businesses have already applied for a $1.15 million state grant, according to West Central Initiative executive Greg Wagner.
Applicants have until the end of May to apply, and the total award will be divvied up between whichever businesses are chosen based on a scoring matrix.
Wagner, director of business and economic development for WCI, presented an annual report for the Clay County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday in Moorhead.
“We anticipate that the money will go fast,” Wagner said.
WCI is in an economic development district working in tandem with the federal government to find eligible projects within a nine-county region of west-central Minnesota, including Clay County.
Wagner said WCI develops a five-year plan for the region that helps identify projects that are in alignment with federal aims in order to garner funds.
WCI also meets with communities to identify their highest priority needs.
“A lot of our work in Clay County is in the planning stage right now,” Wagner said. “Some of that is related to the current economic situation with inflation and interest rates from banks being so high. The housing market has cooled, business growth has cooled as well.”
Wagner says WCI’s primary goal is focused on delivering state programs.
“During the pandemic, we delivered a lot of direct business relief grants that the state f Minnesota provided,” Wagner said. “We administered and vetted and distributed to the businesses in those communities.”
Wagner said one of the major projects that is being worked on presently is the Main Street Economic Revitalization program, which provided funding for specific corridors in the state, including along Highway 10 in Clay County. From Center Avenue in Moorhead to Bluffton, Minn., about $1.8 million has been earmarked for improvements to date. The first project along this corridor has already been started in Moorhead, with others further east (including two in Hawley and one in Dilworth) to begin soon. Moorhead has multiple projects in the works as well.
Wagner says the funding agreements for these projects should be set before the beginning of July.
Another big project going on right now, Wagner said, is the Promise Act Grant. It is an $86 million state program that the Legislature passed last year, and WCI was written in as an administrator of the program for this region. It will include two years of $1.15 million in business assistance grants, with grant applications being accepted from May 1 until the end of the month. Grant applicants are not limited to non-profits, and awards will be in increments of $10,000, $25,000 or $50,000 amounts. The grants will go toward operating expenses for those businesses.
“We’ll take in all the applications until May 31, and then we have a scoring matrix,” Wagner said. “And we’ll distribute those funds accordingly to the highest scoring projects.”
Wagner said WCI has received more than 110 applications in the first 14 days of the month.
He said the application process will open again next year.
“We’ll also be launching a Promise Act loan program, which provides for construction redevelopment dollars at 3 percent interest,” he said.
Wagner also wanted to remind everyone of the Clay County Loan Fund for local businesses. He said WCI has only helped with two loans through this fund recently, including the KidCo Children’s Museum expansion on Center Avenue in Moorhead and a childcare center expansion just south of Moorhead.
Rebecca Petersen, director of development at WCI, also listed myriad programs available for residents. One of those programs piqued the interest of Commissioner Frank Gross, Dist. 2.
“You said you have training for people who want to run for city council,” Gross asked. “Is that a class, or what is it?”
Petersen said it’s a multilevel rural democracy program, with weekend training for those who are curious. She said those who go to the informational meetings oftentimes then decide to run for a particular local office.
Petersen said there’s also a six-week course for credit, with a hybrid of online and in-person work to prepare people to run for office. She said Fergus Falls Mayor Ben Schierer works with WCI on this program to give first-hand knowledge to attendees.
Gross inquired about cost, and Petersen said the McKnight Foundation has helped with the program to keep it free. McKnight is a Minnesota-based organization which distributed $108 million in grants last year, including more than $25 million to greater Minnesota programs.
WCI received two McKnight grants in 2022, including a $400,000 grant for “Vibrant and Equitable Communities” to “strengthen civic participation in rural democratic process through organized outreach, training and conversation,” as well as a $2.5 million grant for “Minnesota Initiative Foundations/Rural,” for general operating support. WCI received a $3 million McKnight grant in 2019 for the same purpose.