NEW ULM — The New Ulm Economic Development Authority on Tuesday agreed to a contract with NUBRIC for $50,000.

City Manager Chris Dalton said the contract had gone through the requisite channels, seen and amended by both city and NUBRIC lawyers. NUBRIC Director Paul Wessel used his time to update the EDA on NUBRIC’s current standing and plans going forward.

“We’ve been talking about the land donation project,” he said. “Beginning next week they’re going to do soil sample testing on the property. That will begin the week of Feb. 19. It’ll probably take three to four weeks for the soil to be analyzed. If it passes, then we move to the next step.”

The full contract covers four areas of work NUBRIC plans to engage in. These are partnership and collaboration, sustainability, business incubation, and industrial workforce development. Each area has at least six activities planned to be completed or substantially worked on in 2024.

Board member Andrea Boettger said it was her understanding that this year would be the last time the EDA gives NUBRIC $50,000 in funding, though they could continue funding in smaller amounts moving forward. She expressed concerns about NUBRIC’s financial independence moving forward.

“I didn’t see anything that tied specifically to how financial independence can be maintained,” Boettger said. “There’s a lot of grant funding. There’s a lot of positively aggressive goals lined up, but I didn’t see anything specifically on where we wouldn’t be needing to [continue funding].”

Wessel said NUBRIC has used grant funding as a step forward to begin generating sustainable revenue. He said much of NUBRIC’s continued sustainable revenue will come from the usage of planned donated land under sustainable revenue models they have already created.

Business incubation was another tool Wessel identified to generate sustainable revenue. By becoming more ingrained in the set-up and development of businesses incubated by NUBRIC, they can be compensated with a minority share in the company which will generate revenue. If the company goes under and liquidates, NUBRIC would get a share of the windfall.

With so much of NUBRIC’s sustainable revenue projections tied in the usage of a planned land donation, Boettger asked Wessel what plan B was if the land could not be used due to a soil test failure.

“Our confidence level is really high that it will pass because before this the land was rented for farmland,” Wessel said. “He was able to grow crops on there. If there was any huge environmental damage, I don’t think he’d be able to grow crops.”

Boettger made the motion to approve the $50,000 contract for NUBRIC, to be paid out in increments of $4,166.67 a month. Board member Nicole Black provided the second.

Boettger was also selected to serve on NUBRIC’s board as an ex-officio member, with EDA Board member Lindsay Henn chosen as an alternate member if Boettger is unable to attend a meeting.