A “Micropolitan Summit” could signal interest for Northfield business development
As Northfield’s Economic Development Authority awaits the arrival of a new ED Coordinator, they heard from Community Development Director Chris Heineman of another opportunity to showcase Northfield. The Minnesota Real Estate Journal hosts Micropolitan Summits in cities with 10 to 50,000 residents. The idea is to promote real estate investment and development opportunities. Heineman said, “building that networking and awareness with some of the real estate community, the developers, the different sectors that might be
interested in that area is very important in building the next steps towards that development”. The EDA would flesh out the players from Northfield for the summit, in turn attracting compatible businesses. EDA member and Chamber President Todd Bornhauser commented, “this sends a signal out to the development community that maybe Northfield is interested now, again, in business development and maybe there’s been a change of attitude. That might be more important than anything else that we do”. They’re looking at March or April of 2017 believing that should be enough time for a new Coordinator. The Journal has selected 18 micropolitans to be on their “Who’s Who” list, Northfield among them. Brainerd and Alexandria have reported success. Owatonna will be hosting one soon. There is a cost to hosting a summit. For more information click on the links: micropolitan-letter alexandria-micropolitan-summit
NAFRS hosting First Annual Blood Drive
NAFRS is holding their first annual blood drive on Thursday from 1 to 7pm. Administrative Assistant Char Hamblin, a regular Red Cross blood and platelet donor, commented that donating blood goes hand in hand with rescuing and saving lives and the constant need for blood. They’ve reached out to all the rescue organizations and City staff and invite the public to donate. The need is constant says Red Cross representative Sue Thesenga. She said they especially need Type O negative. Only about 3{b5761be34e80a16b6d0e4dabc1869c131a263f96a745c82bebdd3b8a4330bfa9} of the population has that type, however, “if you are that blood type, we kind of refer to that as Liquid Gold because it can be transfused into any blood type. That’s really important in emergency situations when there’s not time to type the patient’s blood”. After you donate, your blood is then tested at a lab in St. Paul, which takes about 3 days. As a national network, the Red Cross is able to find out where the blood is most needed and deliver it. Thesenga says blood has a shelf life of 42 days when it must be replaced. Platelets have a shelf life of only 5 days. It’s a different process that must be done at one of their donor centers and takes about 3 hours. Hamblin says you can make an appointment to donate at the NAFRS Blood Drive by calling 1-800RedCross or go online redcrossblood.org. They’ll also accept walk ups.
Nfld council will talk ice re-surfacer, flood update and finance subcommittee
The Northfield City Council meets tonight. On the regular agenda, Council is being asked to approve the submission of a grant application to the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission (MASC) for the purchase of an electric ice resurfacer for the Northfield Ice Arena. They’re asking for a City match of $50,000. Chief Monte Nelson will give a flood update and Staff is recommending clarification of the roles and responsibilities of the Council Finance Policy Subcommittee. City Administrator Ben Martig will be in studio tomorrow morning at 7:20 with a recap. He’s filling if for Mayor Dana Graham during the election season. Full agenda: cc-mtg-10-3
Click below to listen to the 10-4-16 NEWS podcast:
Listen for news updates on-air at 6, 7, 8, Noon, 3 and 5
