I just read Paul Schmitt’s article “Albert Lea is a gem of a city in the Midwest.” It was a very positive perception of our community. I agree we have many activities and amenities that other communities would be envious of. There is also a vision of the future that seems very exciting, but at what cost will that vision be implemented? Not all retirees have the income to have a summer home in the lake state of Minnesota and a winter home in the desert southwest state of Nevada. That being said, an individual who can afford multiple homes probably is not concerned about fees or taxes being raised in either location, but individuals who live on a fixed income and aren’t as fortunate have to figure out how they are going to pay for it all.  Who is looking out for their best interest?

Over the years, when Albert Lea’s economic development and lack of growth has been discussed, it has sometimes been stated that the reason we didn’t grow was because the city wanted to keep Albert Lea a retirement community. I don’t believe that. It has also been stated that because of our close proximity to the intersection of two major interstates we should have grown much faster than we have. That intersection is a positive for our business community, but there are a lot of other more important factors that come into play. There is a double-edged sword that we face when we talk about bringing big business and good-paying jobs to Albert Lea. To bring big business here we need a labor force big enough to accommodate their needs, and at the moment we don’t have those laborers, skilled or unskilled. So without those jobs how do we keep or bring our young people back to this community? I believe the answer is to continue to do all that we can to help our existing businesses, no matter their size, to get bigger. We have some shining stars in our community who had very humble beginnings, but look at what they have become. We need to do all that we can to help small or complimentary businesses that have the potential to become big businesses, grow a few people at a time.

I own a small trucking business and haul for a nationally known company located in Clear Lake, Iowa. They have depleted their workforce there and have been looking to expand or relocate to a new location so they would have access to a larger labor force. I believe they looked at Albert Lea, but we couldn’t provide the volume of people they needed so they went all the way to a southern suburb of the cities to meet their needs.

Making Albert Lea a better community is a work in progress that takes a lot of commitment from a lot of different sources.  No one should be left out, plus it will take a lot of open honest communication.

 

Gary Hagen

Albert Lea