1/13/2007 5:56:00 PM Business retention plan
underway in Big Lake
THE BUSINESS RETENTION AND EXPANSION program leadership team met Thursday at City Hall to discuss strategies. Pictured are (seated, left to right), Karen Barta of the Big Lake Chamber, U. of M. Extension Office Consultant Claudia Cody and Annie Deckert of the City of Big Lake. Standing is Lori Robinson of Caring Rivers United Way, Kevan Sorenson of First Federal Savings Bank, Jan Creed of Heritage Montessori School and Phil Rondeau of CentraSota Commercial. (Photo by Jennifer Edwards).
By Jennifer Edwards Staff Writer
The City of Big Lake has partnered with the University of Minnesota Extension office and the Big Lake Chamber of Commerce to form the Business Retention and Expansion (BR & E), program to assist local businesses and help those looking to expand.
"Attracting new businesses to Big Lake would be a side benefit, not an objective of the program," said BR & E leadership team volunteer Jan Creed of Heritage Montessori School. "We will be surveying a number of businesses in the city to determine their needs and challenges."
Leadership team volunteers met with U. of M. Consultant Claudia Cody Thursday to select businesses to visit. Each business participating will be asked to fill out a survey.
The BR & E team anticipates potential problems and red flag issues will be identified and can be addressed through the process. They will help businesses owners find resources and address issues to overcome any difficulties experienced.
"At the end we expect to have some major projects identified through the process," said Creed, who joined the team because she was considering expanding her school.
"This program was of interest to me," she said. "The more people we can involve, the more we can accomplish."
Big Laker Lori Robinson is also on the BR & E leadership team. She works for Caring Rivers United Way.
"I was just happy Big Lake is looking at this," said Robinson. "I think we should do our best to support our local businesses rather than looking at bringing in the "big box" businesses other cities have, so we don't lose that home town feeling."
Thriving existing businesses also benefit Caring Rivers United Way, Robinson says.
"It's all about individuals having their needs met," said Robinson.
Phil Rondeau of CentraSota Commercial has lived in the Big Lake community for 10 years. He volunteered for the leadership team as a way to give back to the community.
"As a professional in commercial real estate with a finance company, I see an opportunity to extend services to other companies, not just identifying problems but helping them come to a real resolution," he said. "It was just common sense to take a leadership role to try and help them out."
A training session will be offered in February for volunteers who will visit local businesses and help them complete the survey. More volunteers are needed. Anyone interested should contact Annie Deckert at City Hall (763) 263-2107 or Karen Barta at the Big Lake Chamber of Commerce at (763) 263-7800.
