Governor Tim Walz brought members of the Northfield business community together yesterday, to hear about the struggles and 
challenges they are facing in a post-pandemic business climate.
Flanked by Department of Employment of Education, and Northfield Native Steve Grove, as well as Northfield Mayor Rhonda Pownell, Walz spoke with Chris Collins of Cardinal Glass, Matt and Amanda Eastvold of Eastvold Furniture, Chau Troung of Tin Tea, Kody Larson of Little Joy Coffee and Groundwire Coffee Roasters, Jane Bartho, the President of the Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce, and Mark Schiller, the co-founder of Loon Liquors.
Walz listened as the labor force and housing shortages were brought up time and again. Collins listed labor as Cardinal Glass’ biggest challenge. The Eastvolds said it was an issue for their company, as well, even as they sit at what they consider to be their optimal size. They also said they would like to see some help from the state targeted at companies like theirs that employ less than 10 people.
Mark Schiller said Loon Liquors’ business is doing so well, they are being forced to expand, and are trying to do it in the right way. For some time now, Loon has been negotiating to acquire the Northfield Post Office on Bridge Square and turn that into a “Destination Distillery.” He said the costs to move and build out the distillery while still maintaining the historical integrity of the post-office are around $6 million and asked the governor to help with the process.
“We might need you to send the US Postal Service an email,” he said.
Housing was on the mind of every person on the panel, including Bartho in her role as President of the Chamber and Mayor Pownell as well. Everyone brought up how some facet of their business has been affected by the housing shortage, especially when it comes to hiring good employees.
The Governor said that Minnesota was showing some of the lowest unemployment numbers in the nation, and Northfield’s unemployment rate is among the lowest in the state, meaning Northfield has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. But, Walz said, that can be a double-edged sword for companies who need to hire more people, and the housing shortage will only exacerbate that problem.
“We need to find ways to expand the homegrown workforce,” he said.
Property taxes were still another concern. With an 18.5% increase on the horizon for 2023, the city has a stated goal to increase Northfield’s commercial industrial business base. Asked how the state could help Northfield expand in that sector, Walz said there are many programs in place, and the opportunities are out there.
“I think as you saw today, incentivizing this. Whether it’s making sure that we have quality opportunity for folks to come in. We’re trying to entice businesses to come in; there are packages that DEED can put together for those businesses. And then I think [another thing is] the housing. If we can take care of that workforce side of things, keep those costs down for businesses, then there are more companies willing to invest, and we’ve been continuing to do that. And making sure we have partnerships. We’re seeing Minnesota had some of the largest increases in manufacturing in the country of people thinking about doing that.”
Walz said he is happy to see Local Government Aid back on track for communities like Northfield, but there are still problems with issues like education funding and childcare that need more attention.
Grass fire had unique challenges
Northfield Area Fire and Rescue Service Interim Chief Tom Nelson said the grass fire that burned about twenty-five acres of 
standing corn on Sunday night and Monday morning – and is still smoldering – could have been a much larger problem if not for quick thinking by Assistant Fire Chief Jesse Faust.
Nelson said as he was approaching the fire, which was burning in the area east of County Road 23 and Northf of 320th Street, Faust saw the glow of the flames and immediately called to both Farmington and Lonsdale for assistance by bringing out additional tanker trucks and grass fire rigs.
“He knew that it was going to be a lot of time out there,” said Nelson.
Because of the extremely dry conditions and the high winds on Sunday night, the fire moved very quickly into the corn. Those conditions created quite a bit of smoke which was exacerbated by the winds, making things even more difficult. One firefighter was treated for smoke inhalation at Northfield Hospital and released a few hours later.
The firefighters had to make a stand to prevent the fire from jumping to a house in the area. The fire did, however, get into a slough that was filled with chest high, extremely dry grass. Nelson said that produced even more of a challenge.
“Once it gets into that, you just kind of slog around and it just mats down,” Nelson said. “It’s kind of like when a hay bale starts on fire. It’s really hard to get into the inside.”
Due to the dense areas of dry grass that exist in the area, the fire department has been called back to the scene twice due to the fire rekindling but said there wasn’t a lot of danger of the fire spreading because the field has now been plowed all around. Nelson said farmer Rusty Kluver was a key assistant in containing th blaze. He had been working the field when the lightning struck and had already cut some of the corn back by the time firefighters arrived. And Nelson said, Kluver was not alone.
“You know what was great? There were a bunch of area farmers that came out with their rippers so that we could use them to kind of make a firebreak so that we could limit it.
“But there’s some interesting pictures. I’ve seen pictures on Facebook that show, and you can just see kind of the V right where the Lightning hit, there are some pictures out there that people took of when they think the Lightning strike was. a It was an interesting meteorological event.”
Nelson said the dry conditions did work in th firefighters favor as well, because it was much easier for the tanker trucks to reach and refill the grass fire rigs.
He said overall he thought his department did a fine job fighting the fire, and thanked Lonsdale and Farmington again for their assistance.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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