Agency awarded $700,000 to build street

Published 12:13 pm Saturday, August 29, 2009

National and local officials announced Thursday that the Albert Lea Economic Development Agency and the city of Albert Lea have been awarded a $700,000 grant from the Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The grant will go toward the construction of 777th Avenue in the Interstate 35 and Interstate 90 Business Park near Interstate 35 and East Main Street in Albert Lea. It corresponds with the $250,000 state grant already received to go toward the project.

The road will be between the Love’s Truck Stop and the I-35/I-90 Business Park, which is at the east entrance of the Love’s parking lot.

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“This is great news for our area,” Albert Lea Economic Development Agency Executive Director Dan Dorman said.

He noted the grant is the result of collaboration between a number of people, including ALEDA staff members Ryan Nolander and Nancy Jensen, Albert Lea City Manager Victoria Simonsen and other city staff, Jim Krueger and his staff at Freeborn-Mower Cooperative Services, and Kevin Kelleher with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

Dorman said the federal grant, like the state grant, requires a 50 percent match.

The total estimated cost of the project is about $1.4 million, with just over $700,000 coming from the federal grant, $250,000 coming from the state grant, and about $460,000 coming from local funds through Greater Jobs Inc., depending on bids, he said. The city will bond for the Greater Jobs portion, and the entity will make payments to the city.

Dorman said the street will allow the economic development agency to sell land for much less than it would have had to if the road weren’t there.

“When we get into the situation where we’re competitive with other cities and other states, we hope this will give us an advantage because the costs are lower,” Dorman said. He noted when the park develops, there’s the potential of having another $500 million of capital investment put into the land.

“We needed to get the land shovel-ready, and part of it is making sure the road’s there,” he said. “It needs that street to have that ‘Hey, I’m ready to go look.’”

ALEDA has been working on developing the I-35/I-90 Business Park since it acquired the land in 2007.

“The business park offers superior access to I-35 and I-90, and the construction of 777th Avenue is a great shot in the arm for our development efforts,” ALEDA Board President Ellen Kehr said in a prepared statement. “Not only will this create much needed construction jobs for our area, but it will unleash millions in capital investment and create jobs as the park develops.”

Simonsen said the park fits into the city’s long-range development plan, “especially in our ability to attract good-paying warehouse and distribution jobs.”

Dorman said some of the preliminary work for the road has already been completed, and there is a hope to complete the rough grading for it this fall and put in the concrete road next year. That timeline could vary.

In a statement made by Meredith Salsbery, communications director for First District Congressman Tim Walz, Salsbery said: “This expansion of infrastructure will facilitate future growth in Albert Lea, and it is exactly the kind of project that the local economy in Albert Lea needs.”