Economic Development Authority board chairman, Jon Herman, left, and EDA specialist Amber Patten, right, present Cassandra Thorson, middle, with the Business Spotlight Award for July.

The Faribault County Economic Development Authority met in Bricelyn on Tuesday, July 18, and presented Suds and Scissors with the July 2023 Business Spotlight Award.

“I started the business 10-11 years ago,” owner/operator Cassandra Thorson said. “I had trained for a year with my best friend.”

She told the EDA she runs the business out of her home.

“I fixed up my basement so I could use it for my business,” she added. “The only other change I made is that I am no longer doing large dogs. I am getting too old for that.”

She also explained that she only grooms dogs and not cats.

During the business part of the meeting, EDA specialist Annie Nichols updated the board on the Miller’s Corner loan.

“It is now five months past due on payments and they still do not have any property or liability insurance,” Nichols told the board. “At our last meeting we directed our attorney, David Frundt, to send the Millers a notice of default, which he did.”

Nichols shared the Millers responded with an email with an apology for missing payments.

“They stated their plans are to sell some of their assets to get back on track,” Nichols commented. “Our attorney’s response indicated they would need to secure insurance by July 7 in order to discuss a payment plan.”

After some discussion the board decided to proceed with foreclosure proceedings.

Nichols also presented a proposed budget for 2024.

After reviewing the proposal, board members decided to increase the amount asked for legal fees from $5,000 to $15,000 because of the above-mentioned foreclosure proceedings.

The board also decided to ask the county for an additional $2,000 to fix Internet and server problems at the EDA office in the Ag Center. A five percent increase in office space rent was also figured into next year’s budget.

The final proposed budget amount is $120,820, compared to last year’s amount of $105,000.

Nichols also mentioned that the current EDA logo is outdated and does not align with the current branding of Faribault County.

“We would like to explore the possibility of updating our logo to be consistent with the county’s logo,” she said. “We will continue using our present logo until we have more information on what it would cost to do an update.”

An update on housing in the county was also given and it was noted the Faribault County Housing Redevelopment Authority has indicated they are open to having the EDA help pursue goals for housing.

“With historic high funding levels for housing development, our staff has been considering possibilities to take advantage of the new programs,” Nichols commented. “We have spoken with Winnebago and Wells and plan to meet with Blue Earth as well. It may be beneficial to explore an exterior home improvement program, or a county rehab program for tax-forfeited properties.”

Nichols also provided the board with the latest news on Bevcomm’s pursuit of more Border to Border grants.

“In January, the EDA approved two $5,000 grants to Bevcomm as a local match for each of their Border to Border grant applications,” Nichols explained. “Bevcomm received the first Border to Border grant, but was not awarded the second. Bevcomm plans to apply for the next round of Border to Border grants and will again ask for a local match.”