I am writing in response to Brian Gramentz’s Town Talk column dated Oct. 27, 2017. While I am a director of the New Ulm Economic Development Corp. (“NUEDC”), the opinions expressed in this letter are entirely my own.

Mr. Gramentz’s statement that “the only decision made so far has been that the City is going to comply with MN Statute 469.191” is inaccurate. The Council decided to rush through a decision to eliminate a 20-year precedent of providing funding for NUEDC’s operations without any input from, or even notice to, the NUEDC. As reflected in the Council’s minutes from that meeting, the motion adopted on a 3-2 vote was to “eliminate FY 2018 subsidy funding of the NUEDC.”

The primary reason behind this decision was to free up dollars to fund an assistant city manager position without increasing the city’s budget; to be clear, this decision was not in any way mandated by state law. The City and the PUC have been funding the NUEDC in an amount over $50,000 annually since 1996. In that time, there has been no change in the law Mr. Gramentz refers to. I am not aware of the City’s auditor ever having questioned the practice in the past.

The PUC has the ability to contract with third parties to perform functions on its behalf within its scope of responsibility no differently than when it contracts with an engineering firm or other consultant. It has always been my impression that the PUC correctly recognizes that economic development was and is important in expanding the utility base and thereby reducing the per capita cost of utility services throughout the city for the benefit of businesses and private citizens alike.

New Ulm’s EDA has primarily focused on housing development needs in the City and supervising the City’s revolving loan program. Housing is, together with attracting and retaining a qualified labor force, a critical component of a successful economic development strategy to be sure, but the EDA’s focus has not been on attracting and retaining industrial and commercial businesses. That function has historically been performed by the NUEDC and its full-time economic development coordinator. The EDA could contract with NUEDC to provide economic development and promotion. In this fashion, the EDA could benefit from NUEDC ‘s experience and resources, including both its full-time economic development coordinator and its volunteer board of business people, in fulfillment of the EDA’s core function of promoting economic development within New Ulm.

In any event, one certainly can debate whether having the economic development coordinator position as a city or an NUEDC employee is or is not the best approach. However, that discussion should have been had with the public before the Council vote, not after. It is my understanding that there is no community in Minnesota over 10,000 people that does not have a full-time economic development coordinator position. The City’s plan will make New Ulm an outlier in that regard.

NUEDC, working closely and productively with City staff, was directly involved in providing land and/or financing for Parker Automation; Beacon Promotions; Elkay Wood Products; Frontier Labs; and American Artstone. NUEDC was also heavily involved in working to bring Spec Sys; United Commercial Upholstery; and DLC Manufacturing to town. The first five projects listed represent approximately 315 jobs and approximately $330,000 in real estate taxes in 2017.

The NUEDC consists of 11 unpaid directors. The banking, legal, accounting, realty, construction, and manufacturing sectors of our community are all represented. Each of these people, and the businesses they represent, believe that the NUEDC is an important and necessary component of the economic well-being of New Ulm, and spend a considerable amount of time working with the economic development coordinator in discussing development strategies and opportunities. The current board members work for businesses that have about 530 local employees, an annual local payroll of about $23 million, and annual real estate taxes of about $470,000.

The best route forward is for NUEDC to work with all concerned to promote the common goal of economic growth and vitality for New Ulm. NUEDC can and should have an important role in achieving those goals going forward. I believe a full-time economic coordinator for New Ulm is necessary. I believe that position is best utilized as an employee supervised by, and working in consultation with, the existing 11-member board of NUEDC. A better approach for the City Council to take would have been to have had the discussion on that position, specifically the position’s job duties, employer, and funding, before voting to eliminate the existing 20-year partnership. Nonetheless, even in light of that action, I intend, and I encourage everyone involved, to continue to work with the City to find a common strategy that leverages all of our respective resources to the fullest extent possible.

(Dustan Cross is an attorney with Gislason and Hunter, and member of the New Ulm Economic Development Corp. Board of Directors)