As young people come back to Albert Lea after studying, living and working elsewhere, they often express surprise that the community hasn’t changed more.

The expectation seems to be that any community located near the intersection of two major interstates should have grown in the time they were gone. Twenty years ago, an Albert Lea with 40,000 residents was envisioned by the time the year 2000 rolled around, but that hasn’t turned out to be the case.

Mayor Bob Haukoos is familiar with these observations and doesn’t like hearing them. So he’s decided to lend some of his time and energy to a new Albert Lea &uot;Think Tank&uot; being organized by Orvin Drangstveit and other community members.

&uot;We need to come up with ways to move Albert Lea forward,&uot; Haukoos said.

According to Haukoos and Drangstveit, the purpose is to gather a group of residents together so that they can spark each other’s creativity and brainstorm ideas for Albert Lea. The group met for the first time in mid-April and will meet again in May.

Drangstveit, who moved to Albert Lea from Oregon three years ago, is providing some informal leadership for now. He hopes that the think tank, as it matures, will be able to complement and cooperate with the other organizations in town that are also trying to move Albert Lea forward when it comes to economic development and other issues. The aim is to look at the ideas of newcomers and those who have lived here all or most of their lives, he said. A special concern of Drangstveit’s is the continued decline in population in communities in the area, he said.

Part of the impetus for the group’s formation comes from Drangstveit’s own observations that the whole community needs to start thinking &uot;outside the box&uot; because relying on the same old ideas of the past isn’t working anymore. And one of the new things people need to do is think about the whole region when it comes to economic development, he said.

&uot;We need to look beyond the boundaries that divide us,&uot; said Drangstveit. People in this community need to think about more than just Albert Lea or Freeborn County, he said. Effective economic development is regional.

Anyone in the community who feels they have the time and energy necessary for the work of the think tank is encouraged to contact Drangstveit at 373-8214.

&uot;I’m always looking for new and fresh ideas,&uot; he said.