BLUE EARTH - Both Faribault County economic development entities pitched their cases this week to county commissioners, who are weighing budget cuts for 2010.

The Faribault County Economic Development Authority went first, with board president Ann Schuster and director Zoa Heckmann on hand.

The EDA was established in 2003, when every city in the county signed on to boost job growth.

State law governs public EDAs.

"I'm wondering if this maybe puts to bed your whole discussion," Schuster said. "... All the cities signed the resolutions in 2003. That's a five-year opt-in. It ended in January of 2008, and then it automatically renewed. ... Right now, we're in the second five-year time frame until 2013."

County Attorney Brian Roverud told commissioners they have no authority to dissolve the EDA; that would require special legislation. The board can, however, stop funding it.

Commissioner Tom Loveall asked if there are grants specific only to public EDAs. Schuster said yes: "A lot of programs - right, wrong or otherwise - are written that way."

Commissioners asked her to talk about the programs the EDA administers. Schuster named the Small Cities Development Grant, Revolving Loan Fund and general coordination.

Loveall asked if there are any other expenses the county would be responsible for if it stopped funding the EDA. There are none.

"Whatever is left over in our budget is saved over," Heckmann said. "We try very hard to keep our budget as small as we can. ... We can put it into the revolving loan fund."

That fund balance is $350,000, considered small by economic development standards. Heckmann noted there is also a commitment of $100,000 for a development in Wells that could involve 150 to 200 jobs.

Then, EDA addressed Go Minnesota, the private economic development corporation that began operating two years ago.

"Originally, Go Minnesota was going to be our partner," Schuster said. "I was for that. I think there's a good balance. If you have to pick, pick the public option. That's what all the cities picked. Now is not the time to try something new. You stay with what you know. If you look through our history, we have accomplished projects with the money we had."

Several commissioners disagreed that now is not the time to try something new.

Go Minnesota chairman Jeff Lang and past chairman Bill Eckles took a different approach - numbers.

"Talking about Faribault County and where we're at now - if you look at the USC school district, 45 percent of the students are on subsidized lunch program; Blue Earth Area school district, 42 percent of the students are on subsidized meal program," Eckles said. "Referring to the housing study, 23.5 percent of the homes in Faribault County are either dilapidated or are in need of repair. In 2008, Faribault County had a workforce of 7,792; that's down from 2005, when the workforce was 8,050; and down from 2000, when we had a workforce of 8,630. In the last eight years, we've lost 9 percent of our workforce in this county. This is why Go Minnesota was formed."

Eckles said Go Minnesota represents a different approach.

"I think we're gonna have the resources and the tools to actually make a difference," he said. "I think it's a better idea. I do know what we're doing now isn't working. If it doesn't work, we can go back the way it is. This isn't a ratchet effect."

Lang said the corporation has a board of directors from all areas of the county, and business memberships of 22 companies. He said public resources to date total $73,000, while private contributions total $150,000.

Currently, the county and city of Blue Earth are the only two public entities that have contributed financially to Go Minnesota, which would like to have a budget of at least $250,000.

Lang said the group is building a network in the county so when a CEO of a company calls asking about locations and other details, the information can be given instantly.

"You cannot downplay the speed at which CEOs want and need information," Lang said. "You need to be able to answer the question right away; otherwise they're calling another community."

He also emphasized that the entity is not out to eliminate other EDAs. Those EDAs have funding options in their cities, so he said all groups need to work together.

Loveall said his concern with Go Minnesota is allocation of services. But director Doug Uhrhammer said he writes a report each month detailing what days he met with whom in what town. That shows he's not focusing solely on one community.

Commissioner Bill Groskreutz said one of the first things any EDA should have is the support of all the communities it serves.

"The Wells EDA sent the board a letter saying they were not in support of Go Minnesota," he said.

Uhrhammer acknowledged there is a "hump" down the middle of the county: "How do you knock that hill down and get people working together?" he asked.

Commissioner Tom Warmka said that after listening to both "fine organizations" he isn't sure if the county should fund any EDA.

"Economic development is a fickle thing," he said. "... I'm looking for a partnership and we don't have it. I don't know what's the problem that we don't have cooperation between the two organizations. I'm concerned about the four cities I represent. Two contacted me and said they haven't seen a lot of EDA in their towns in the last few years. They want to be a participant in this thing."

Commissioner Butch Erichsrud said all 15,000 people in the county need to work together if anything is going to work in terms of development.

In the end, commissioners tabled a decision on funding economic development until their next meeting.