GRAND RAPIDS — Local officials from Itasca County and the surrounding region have taken the first steps to establish a collaborative 10-year economic development plan.
Representatives from Aitkin, St. Louis and Itasca counties, as well the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, discussed regional economic development and established common goals at the group’s first major meeting Oct. 7 in Grand Rapids.
According to a news release, over 20 organizations had staff present, including Minnesota Power and the Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation.
The meeting was facilitated by Homerun Leadership and Flaherty and Hood, a legislative and policy law firm. Derrick Miedaner, the firm’s director of policy research and analytics, said the group’s size makes the project particularly unique and exciting.
“I've done county work in the past, but what makes this different is that it's a multi-county regional approach to economic development planning,” Miedaner said. “This approach is trying to integrate the local economies from several places at once and figure out how counties can help one another rather than compete against each other.”
The group’s formation comes after several economic development opportunities have fallen through in recent years.
For some officials present, the meeting was also a chance to give their constituents greater economic opportunities. Leech Lake Band Representative Jonathan White called his attendance a “natural collaboration” with Itasca County and Commissioner John Johnson, who spearheaded the event.
“To actually come and collaborate and show that we can be partners,” White said, “to actually feel comfortable coming into Grand Rapids, coming into Deer River, which historically was not a great relationship before ... I just feel like it's a good thing, and I'm glad to be here with this collaboration.”
He also expressed appreciation for the regional focus on the meeting.
“To just kind of being that spokesperson and being hounded into this bigger, bigger regional economic development train feels awesome,” he said.
According to the group’s strategic plan, permitting reform, encouraging private-public partnerships and strengthening the regional workforce were named as top priorities for future action.
The plan also noted top challenges, including resource competition and a lack of communication from regional leaders, both among themselves and to the residents and businesses they serve.
The group will now break into subcommittees to address key issues and items of action over the next year.
