UMVRDC Collaborates to Find Funding to Support Childcare Expansions
Childcare is a critical issue in the five-county region of Swift, Yellow Medicine, Chippewa, Lac qui Parle, and Big Stone. According to an annual survey of local leaders in the region, childcare has ranked as the most important issue in four of the last five years. The five-county area has a shortage of 611 childcare slots, according to First Children’s Finance 2023 estimates. Recent work in Ortonville, Montevideo, and Dawson, through the Rural Child Care Innovation Program and Strategic Supply Plan process, has identified an increase of 99 additional childcare slots beyond the 2023 data from First Children’s. This data confirms the need to address the childcare shortage in the region. Case studies have been conducted on most of the centers within the region and most of the findings identify high startup-expansion costs, low wages, staff turnover, rent, and numerous other challenges that result in the area’s childcare crisis.
The UMVRDC recently worked with the Southwest Initiative Foundation and Prairie Five Community Action on developing a regional application to DEED’s Childcare Economic Development Grant program. A regional survey was sent to 125 childcare providers to identify projects that would increase the number of childcare slots in the region. Initially 29 providers said they were interested but after thorough discussions about the eligible activities and timeline, five projects were identified as shovel ready and were included in the application.
This program would provide grant funding to local projects that will increase the number of childcare slots in the region. Prairie Five will act as the project administrator and manage the subaward process. If awarded, Prairie Five will confirm the local project’s eligibility and award amount through an application process, manage the distribution of funds, and oversee the reporting process.
The application proposes to create 134 new childcare slots between five local projects that will include two existing centers and four new providers. One of the five projects is a pod model that will include two different family providers. Among the five projects identified in this application, 23 new childcare worker jobs are proposed. These funds will also protect 33 existing jobs located at the two centers that are proposing expansion. The application is requesting $421,225 in funding that will be sub-granted to the five projects and will be leveraged by $1,195,435 in additional local project funding. Project funding comes from the projects and several other local community partners who have made funds available to childcare projects in their community. In addition, the $33,000 in state project administrative funds requested from this application are over-matched by local partners who have prioritized childcare as an important economic issue. The funding awards are expected to be announced early summer 2024.
New Work at the UMVRDC to Focus on Clean Energy Opportunities
UMVRDCs across Minnesota recently received funding from the Minnesota Department of Commerce to provide outreach, education, planning, coordination, and grant writing assistance to local governments in our five-county region (Big Stone, Swift, Chippewa, Lac qui Parle, and Yellow Medicine) for the numerous new energy-related related federal funding sources.
Significant new state and federal resources are available for cities, schools, counties and other local governments for installing renewable energy systems to offset the energy demand from public buildings or to conduct community-wide planning to identify opportunities to look at energy resilience and energy efficiency strategies.
To keep up on the many new energy related funding programs, check out Minnesota Department of Commerce website.
Chippewa County Hazard Mitigation Plan Approved by FEMA; Swift County to begin Updating their Hazard Mitigation Plan. Hazard mitigation plans identify all of the disasters and hazards that could potentially impact local jurisdictions and include strategies to reduce their impact on people and properties. Plans need to be updated every five years to remain current and allow participating jurisdictions to be eligible to apply for FEMA project funding.
The UMVRDC worked with Chippewa County Emergency Management to update their Hazard Mitigation Plan. The planning process kicked off in June 2022. City and County staff as well as community organizations were invited to attend. From there, community meetings were held with local committees to update local strategies at the city and county level. A county wrap-up meeting was held via Zoom in June 2023 summarizing the process and highlighting some of the plan’s strategies. After a public comment period in September, the plan was sent to HSEM and FEMA for review. In early January, the County was notified that the plan had been approved by FEMA. In January and February, the participating local jurisdictions officially adopted the plan by resolution. The County and cities are now eligible to apply for FEMA project funding.
As the Chippewa planning process concludes, Swift County Emergency Management will soon begin updating their plan. Earlier this year, the UMVRDC assisted the County with securing FEMA funding to update their 2020 hazard mitigation plan. The UMVRDC and County staff will start organizing the planning process in the coming months and kick-off the planning process later this summer. The UMVRDC looks forward to assisting Swift County with this planning project.
Explore Minnesota Tourism Conference Highlights
Staff attended the 2024 Explore Minnesota Tourism Conference virtually at the end of February. The conference featured presentations on the state of tourism in Minnesota, as well as its economic impacts, the latest digital strategies and tips to market your destination, a new marketing campaign for Explore Minnesota, and more. Staff learned marketing strategies and tips that they will be able to implement in the Western Minnesota Prairie Waters marketing efforts.
2024 Conference Presentations
New Prairie Waters Guide Coming Soon!
Staff have been working on the brand-new Prairie Waters Visitor/Relocation Guide that will be available in April! You will find information on things to do, unique community features, employment, healthcare, education, events, residents’ stories, cost of living data, and more! Once finished, staff will begin distributing the guides to business and organizations throughout the region and beyond. There will be a digital guide available, as well.
Funding Available for Business Start-Ups or Expansions
The UMVRDC’s gap financing makes the deal possible! When gap financing is used, the primary lender has a lower loan to value and the debt service coverage is increased due to lower rates of the gap portion.
There is currently $1.7 million in loan funds available in the UMVRDC’s Revolving Loan Fund (RLF).Loan rates have been lowered, currently offering a five-year fixed rate of 5%. Amortizations can be up to 15 years. The UMVRDC lower rate makes the overall project more profitable.
Special rates are available to people of color, women and veterans in our region, 4.5% – 5-year fixed rates. Amortizations can be up to 15 years. Also, minority groups qualify for a reduced origination fee of 0.5%. Normally the origination fee is 1%.
Since 1988, 157 loans have been made for a total of over $10 million, providing access to affordable capital through gap financing for business start-ups or expansions. Buying or creating a small business takes money. Many times, the people with the passion and idea to start a business don’t have the dollars. Gap financing through the UMVRDC can help. If you or someone you know is looking at a business start-up or expansion, please give us a call. We are here to help.
The UMVRDC Revolving Loan Fund is designed to provide gap financing for business and industry starting up or expanding in the five-county region of Big Stone, Chippewa, Lac qui Parle, Swift and Yellow Medicine. The primary focus of the program is to create or retain jobs.
Comments Sought on Proposed Transportation Projects in the Area
Public comment is requested on the draft Area Transportation Partnership Improvement Program (ATIP) for 2025-2028 regarding projects occurring in Big Stone, Swift, Chippewa, Lac qui Parle and Yellow Medicine Counties.
The ATIP lays out the four-year plan for federally-funded transportation improvements within the area. The ATIP is combined with other ATIPS throughout Minnesota and combined into the State Transportation Improvement Program which will be submitted for approval by the Federal Highway Administration.
Review Plan and Leave CommentsUMVRDC Helps Coordinate Regional Food Action Plan
The USDA funded 12 Regional Food Business Centers that support all 50 U.S. States and Territories. The North Central USDA Regional Food Business Center covers Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.
The North Central USDA Regional Food Business Center, also called the Center, is a collaboration of 35 partner organizations, helping to coordinate technical assistance and build capacity for farmers and food businesses in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
The goal of the Center is to transform a region that primarily focuses on commodity and large-scale agriculture into an area that also supports smaller, more resilient farm and food practices, specifically focusing on the development of critical infrastructure for small and mid-size livestock processing, fruit and vegetable processing, and warehouse space and storage operations.
The UMVRDC is one of the 35 partners for the Center and will provide technical assistance for our 5-county region (Big Stone, Chippewa, Lac qui Parle, Swift, and Yellow Medicine).
More InfoBoard Member Appreciation 
Brett Buer recently reached his 15-year milestone as a UMVRDC board member. Brett has represented the Dawson-Boyd School District since February 2009.
Brett is a native of Dawson. He is active in his church, is on the MRVED board, mentor for the Dawson-Boyd robotics team, and is a committee member for the Midwest Snowmobile Shows. He and his family moved back to Dawson in 2004 after a few years in the Twin Cities. His wife is a software engineer, and both of their sons are in college. Brett is self-employed and does machining and welding for vintage and late model snowmobiles and also restores snowmobiles.
We would like to say thank you to Brett for this significant time being a part of our organization. Brett’s professionalism and contributions over the years have been appreciated. He is a great ambassador of the UMVRDC and we look forward to Brett’s future effort and support as a board member. Thanks for your service, Brett!
Welcome!
We are happy to introduce new board member, Harmon Wilts, representing KMS Schools. He joined the UMVRDC board in January.
In addition to serving as the Vice President of the KMS School Board, Harmon is quite active in his community where he is chairman of the board for Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company (CVEC) in Benson, Trustee for the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Murdock, member of the KMS FFA alumni, and serves on University of Minnesota CFANS Alumni Board.
Harmon was a Dekalb Technical Agronomist for 28 years covering much of western Minnesota. He and his family operate a 1600-acre corn, soybeans & sugar beet farm outside of Kerkhoven. He has been an active school board member for 14 years. His wife is a teacher in the KMS school system and his three daughters all work in agriculture and are part of the farming operation.
UMVRDC Service Recognition
Congratulations to Melissa, Kevin, and Dalen on their years of service!
Melissa Streich celebrated her 10th year in January with the UMVRDC. Melissa is the Senior Communications Specialist and works on a wide variety of marketing efforts for our office. She oversees multiple websites and communication pieces for the UMVRDC. Melissa also manages the Western Minnesota Prairie Waters program. Congratulations to Melissa on this milestone year!
Kevin Ketelsen recently completed his second year with the UMVRDC. He is a Senior Community Development Specialist for the agency. Kevin spends his time working on EDA planning grant and the development and implementation of the region’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) in addition to a variety of planning projects and grants for cities and counties in the region. We look forward to his future contributions!
Dalen Roe, Loan Officer, has been with us for one year! He manages the Revolving Loan Program, where he’s able to apply his knowledge from the banking world into our regional loan program that helps fund business start-ups or expansions. Dalen also manages a RLF for the City of Appleton and Lac qui Parle County. We’re happy to have Dalen on board!
Upcoming Events
March 29: UMVRDC Office closed for Good Friday
April 11: Small Business Lending Forum
Appleton Civic Center || 11:30 a.m.
April 23: UMVRDC Monthly Meeting
Appleton Civic Center || 6:30 p.m.
May 27: UMVRDC Office closed for Memorial Day
May 28: UMVRDC Monthly Meeting
Appleton Civic Center || 6:30 p.m.
June 19: UMVRDC Office closed for Juneteenth
June 25: UMVRDC Monthly Meeting
Appleton Civic Center || 6:30 p.m.
