The Crookston Housing and Economic Development Authority met at the Valley Technology Park in Crookston on Tuesday morning.
BROADWAY VILLAS PROJECT MOVING FORWARD
The CHEDA board approved five agenda items that all helped move the Broadway Villas project forward. The Broadway Villas are townhomes that will be built behind Casey’s, off of Broadway.
The board approved the allocation of funds to the project. The board also approved applying for the State Housing Tax Credit program, hiring a civil engineer and architect for the project. The board approved moving forward, utilizing $150,000 from a state grant and $150,000 from the community development fund. “We applied for a Tier 2 Cities Grant for $100,000, and we were awarded that, which is pretty exciting because it was pretty competitive. We just sold our house over on Eickhof, so we have about $540,000 there,” said CHEDA Executive Director Kari Kirschbaum. “With the grants that we have, and the $30,000 worth of grants for pre-development to help us to pay for engineers or architects that we might need to get all of our ducks in a row to get going on that project.”
CHEDA aims to construct three townhomes over the next 18 months.
CROOKSTON CONNECTED EVENT SCHEDULED FOR JANUARY 29, 2026
The board approved Kirschbaum’s request to use $5,000 to organize the Crookston Connected event, which will be held at the Crookston Inn and Convention Center. The event will be on Thursday, January 29, from 4:00 to 7:30 p.m.
Kirschbaum said the event is designed for the community to meet and greet City Council members, learn about opportunities for involvement, and gather information about the city, school district, county commission, and other key community organizations. “Open it up and have different tables for each of our council people to introduce themselves, talk about their ward. We’ll have a table talking about what it takes to be a council person. What do you have to do? When do we have to register? What does it take to be a county commissioner, school board member, just getting information out to people who are interested in civic matters, but don’t know where to go,” said Kirschbaum. “So we’ll just give them kind of a one-stop shop with all the ideas on that. Additionally, we’ll have tables for the Highway to Corridor project, childcare initiatives, and children’s finance. We’re hoping to make headway here. Also, we’ll have one for the Broadway Villas. We have a lot of ideas, but we’re just starting to bring them all together.”
FISCAL SPONSORSHIP FOR 4H2, INC APPROVED
4H2, which is CHEDA Board member Brian LaPlante’s business, requested that CHEDA serve as a fiscal sponsor/host for a grant they will receive to research the feasibility of growing sweet sorghum in Minnesota, which would be used to produce ethanol. Sweet sorghum is a variety of sorghum grass grown for its sugary, juicy stalks, which are processed int a syrup similar to molasses. The high sugar content makes it a source for producing ethanal, and the fibrous plant material can be used for other bioenergy and industrial products.
Since LaPlante is on the board, he had to abstain from voting. He also had to leave the room, and the board had to give unanimous approval to approve the agenda item.
LaPlante provided an overview of the project, stating that 4H2 will be collaborating with AURI, White Earth Technical and Community College, and the grant they are receiving will be up to $150,000. After LaPlante left the room, the board unanimously approved CHEDA as the fiscal host, and it will actually make money in the process because it will receive a 15 percent administrative fee for serving as the grant fiscal host.
“Yeah, this is great research. It’s to look at sorghum, and it’s a use for ethanol. It’s research to see how much sorghum we can grow. They’re doing a GIS across the state to see where we can grow it, to use as an alternative source to corn or an additional source to corn,” said Kirschbaum. “It’s just a pass-through, so we’re a physical sponsor, and we’ll receive 15% as an administration fee at the EDA level for the paperwork and handling of that. So we’re looking forward to it. It should be a good business, and it should be really beneficial and find another crop to raise up in our area.”
What other ways could this help grow Crookston and the northwest region of Minnesota? “We’ve even looked at what type of facility would have to be built if we can begin to create the ethanol here. We’re even looking at our future zoning maps, and we were looking at expanding our industrial park, and that was one of the reasons that we were looking at expanding, is businesses like this,” said Kirschbaum. “As Ag continues to innovate, as you look at North Star Lime, you look at this innovation with sorghum. So many things are happening in the ag business, and our farmers are some of the most inventive people I’ve ever met in my life.”
INDUSTRIAL PARK UPDATE
There has been considerable interest in the Industrial Park now that the City is moving forward with installing infrastructure. “Northern Minnesota Railroad is looking at applying for another railroad spur grant, Farmers Union has purchased the old Ag Innovation Campus, and they’re looking at what they can do to expand. They’re going to be putting in some organic fertilizer there,” said Kirschbaum. “We’ve got other people requesting access to the rail. Now that people know the infrastructure is being installed, we’re getting a lot of action. I have five interviews this week with different businesses that we found through SLP, which has been helping us market the industrial park at various shows around the country. And so I’ve got five interviews this week with some people to see if they’re interested in the industrial park. Some of them are also site selectors, and they have clients looking for businesses. We have a lot of stuff going on, and I’m excited about it.”