Success Stories (Cont.)

Small Business Development/RLF Hardware Hank, Ortonville, Minnesota Bob and Sue Kulbeik wanted to open a hardware store in their town of Ortonville, Minnesota but lacked the capital. They sought funding from the Upper Minnesota Valley Regional Development Commission and other lenders to get the business going. They received a $66,000 Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) and were able to open Hardware Hank, which provides products for painting, plumbing, electrical, and basic hardware. The business created 5 jobs in the community. June 2016
Economic Development Districts Alabama Tombigbee Regional Commission Helps to Drive Critical FDI to Rural Wilcox County, Alabama Devastating tornadoes that struck rural Wilcox County, Alabama in 2011 resulted in the loss of lives and permanent jobs when production in the region’s critical timber and paper production sectors was forced to cease for a number of weeks. April 2016
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Ben Franklin Technology Partners: Growth Breeds Success for Entrepreneurs Ben Franklin once said, "Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning." It’s therefore fitting that an institution bearing his name, Ben Franklin Technology Partners (BFTP), has taken those words to heart. November 2015
Disaster, Infrastructure Raise The Road Albert Einstein once said that “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” The same wisdom can be applied when it comes to repairing flood damage to a road that has been built in the path of a flood plain. September 2015
Workforce Development A Training Center of Their Own If you create a job and no one has the skills needed to fill it, did you really create a job? Workforce development must be a critical focus of all economic development organizations. It’s imperative that workers receive training that matches the needs of employers. In 2000, the town of New Braunfels, Texas, was faced with a problem. The town wanted to attract new industries, but their existing businesses were expressing concerns about the lack of skilled workers to meet their current and future needs. July 2015
Infrastructure EDA Joins with State, Local, and Private Groups to Expand Food Industry Cluster in New York State For nearly a decade, officials in western New York’s Genesee County have been nurturing a food processing cluster, with a special focus on dairy products, at the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park (GVAP) in Batavia, New York. June 2013