FAIRMONT – A County Business Revitalization Summit was presented to the Martin County Economic Development Authority (EDA) Monday and faced scrutiny.

The summit would be hosted by Retail Strategies and be hosted for Martin and Faribault counties. CEDA Consultant Amber Patten said it would be held in 2026, which would give them time to find funds for its price of $70,000.

“The people that would attend would be commissioners, council members and city staff,” she said. “It’d be a full-day event. They would go through processes, help facilitate how they can go ahead and update their ordinances and deliver tangible results to make these downtowns more vital.”

Board Member Billeye Rabbe asked if there was more to it than just the one-day summit. Patten said there would be follow-ups from the organization to continue assisting local communities.

This summit would not target Fairmont and Wells. Patten said they both have revitalization organizations at work, and they’d look to focus their resources on those that don’t. Board Member James Kloeckner said if they were to do this, he would prefer all Martin and Faribault communities be included.

“You don’t want to exclude them,” Kloeckner said. “Unless it costs more, which it shouldn’t.”

Board Member Tim Terfehr said he would much rather take $70,000 and provide it as a grant program to help existing businesses than spend it on a Revitalization Summit. Board Member Richard Koons said revitalization is a testy word in rural communities, especially with costs the way they are now.

“I just talked to my insurance man, he was at a three-day seminar,” he said. “How much have construction costs went up in Minnesota the last 18 months? [It’s] 41 percent highest in the nation.”

For those reasons, Koons said he could not see $70,000 as a responsible price point for an endeavor like this. He agreed with Terfehr’s assessment of directly supporting businesses versus paying for a summit.

Regarding revitalization, Terfehr said its’ not going to be the hardware and grocery stores of old coming back in. Board Member Tom Lytle said it’s going to take fresh ideas.

“Revitalization is going to come from an entrepreneur who thinks he can get a brewery in Sherburn at the old bank building,” he said. “That kind of stuff is what’s going to happen.”

Although they elected not to move forward with this idea, Board Chair Wes Anderson thanked CEDA for continuing to bring forth different ways to try and make the county better.

In other news:

— The EDA approved an application for an MN Paid Leave Outreach Grant. The grant would help small businesses navigate the changes surrounding paid leave. Koons mentioned potential bills that would delay the implementation of the paid leave changes. CEDA Consultant Celia Simpson said she had seen that, but she was planning based on what’s currently on the books.

— Admission for a South Central Workforce Summit was approved by the board. Ceda Consultant Celia Simpson said workforce changes are a critical concern for area businesses, as identified by last year’s business survey. “We’d like to go and learn better how to engage our businesses about [workforce issues],” she said.