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WALKER - "We thrive on partnerships," said Gail Leverson, Cass County Economic Development Corp. director, told those attending the CCEDC annual meeting at the Chase Hotel and Convention Center in Walker Thursday, Oct. 27.

She and keynote speaker, Paul Moe, deputy commissioner of Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, emphasized the importance of coordinating federal, state, regional and local programs to help business start-ups and expansions.

In the last 10 years, 73 businesses have started or expanded operations in Cass County with help from the EDC. Those businesses created 643 jobs paying an average $12.47 hourly wage and investing $47,212,625 in the county, Leverson said. Involved in those projects was $918,000 in grants.

Leverson said 11 businesses have completed their start-up or expansion so far in 2011 here. Two keys to further expansion will be finding adequate start-up capital and providing easier access to education needed for new jobs. Only 22.5 percent of Cass County residents currently have post-secondary education, she said.[[In-content Ad]]

Moe said he likes to focus on the positive and has found slow growth happening in Minnesota following the recession.

The U.S. economy is up 2.5 percent, he said. While federal unemployment has remained steady at 9.1 percent, the Minnesota unemployment rate has dropped from 8 percent last year to 6.9 percent. Cass County's unemployment rate has dropped from 8 percent a year ago to 7.4 percent this year.

Minnesota exports rose 12 percent in the last year, Moe said, reflecting an improvement in manufacturing and an improved availability of venture capital.

DEED aims to encourage and promote growth in the state, Moe said, through 90 programs and services and through its partnerships with all levels of government. DEED also provides information about business and funding sources, he added.

Minnesota has received $3 million in investment funding, $2 million in redevelopment grants, $4 million in greater Minnesota business development and public infrastructure and $5 million in innovative business development public infrastructure funding, according to Moe.

The state has an "angel tax credit" available to people who provide funding to new businesses, Moe said. There also is a 10 percent research and development tax credit, a new data center incentive and a historic rehabilitation tax credit, he added.

Moe said Gov. Mark Dayton's jobs summit aims to help businesses access capital, eliminate red tape for exporting and foreign direct investment, look at infrastructure such as broadband expansion and to close the skills gap between the existing workforce and skills businesses need their employees to have.

The state needs a one-stop business portal, a buy Minnesota program, additional business access to capital, more export opportunities and to answer the question of whether the state needs a new toolbox to help businesses, according to Moe.

He noted 300,000 Minnesotans work in manufacturing today.

Second publication rights after Brainerd Dispatch.

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