As supporters of the proposed Albert Lea business incubator wait for good news from the legislature about state funding, another important source of financial support has come through for the project.

Friday, June 01, 2001

As supporters of the proposed Albert Lea business incubator wait for good news from the legislature about state funding, another important source of financial support has come through for the project.

The United States Department of Agriculture announced a $200,000 grant to Freeborn-Mower Cooperative Services this week to establish a revolving loan account for economic development projects in the community. The first loan will go to the Albert Lea Port Authority for the business incubator project, said USDA spokesman Tom Sand.

&uot;This is a huge boost to the project,&uot; said Pam Bishop, Executive Vice President of Greater Jobs, Inc. &uot;The biggest difficulty with any economic development undertaking is securing capital to get started, and this loan will serve that purpose.&uot;

The loan will be used to renovate a 41,000 square-foot facility in the North Aire Industrial Park in north Albert Lea, said Bishop. When complete, the building will become the Albert Lea Business Center, helping small start-up companies by providing quality office and manufacturing space, management services, consulting and professional links, Bishop said.

The goal of the incubator is to help new businesses grow into stable operations, improve job opportunities and diversify the area economy. To meet that goal, Greater Jobs will relocate its offices to the facility, Bishop said, and Riverland Community College will dedicate a new faculty position in computerized small business management to serve the incubator’s tenants.

Freeborn-Mower Cooperative Services, as a rural electric company, is eligible for USDA rural development funding. As the port authority begins paying back the loan in two years, Freeborn-Mower will make the funds available to other development projects in the area, Sand said.

Together with the port authority and Riverland Community College, Bishop has been planning, researching and fundraising for the proposed business incubator for almost a year. A request for funding from the state is still pending, said Bishop, and will likely be decided during a special session of the legislature in the coming weeks.

&uot;We’re keeping our fingers crossed and relying on our local legislators to keep and eye on that funding request,&uot; she said.

The next step for the incubator project is working with a consultant to determine what features need to be included in the renovation, especially concerning high-speed networks and other technologies, Bishop said, adding that actual renovations could begin this summer. loan