Star Tribune
When big-box stores left, a Minnesota town feared for its future. Downtown investment changed the vibes.
A block away, Evan Burkdoll walked through his Scandinavian-inspired cafe, where every table was full with the lunchtime crowd. He has two concepts under one roof; next door is Union Avenue Bar & Eatery, an upscale restaurant with handmade pastas, including the popular braised short rib ravioli, and wood-fired sourdough pizzas. At 26, Burkdoll also runs a third restaurant in town, Mabel Murphy’s, and a catering business serving the region.
He grew up in Fergus Falls, went to culinary school in Moorhead and moved back home. When he was young, he never went downtown. He thought of it as a bunch of offices that closed up at 5. If his family went out to dinner, it was for Applebee’s or takeout pizza.
“There was no heart downtown, no energy there,” Burkdoll said. “Now it seems like there’s always something going on. A bunch more people walking downtown, a lot more bike riding. Just people, man. It’s a small area, so when you see lots of people gathering somewhere, it’s a big deal.”
Members of a classic car club meet for dinner in downtown Fergus Falls. (Leila Navidi/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
These sorts of things are good for the tax base, certainly. But more than that, it’s good for the town’s morale. The mayor jokes that people used to visit Fergus Falls and wonder: Where’s the falls? Visitors didn’t even know a river ran through downtown, since the river was bordered by empty parking lots and dilapidated industrial buildings.
“There had been sort of a feeling of things going backwards, going downhill, like the town was going to die,” said Steve Rufer, a longtime local attorney who helped start an organization promoting downtown. “We went from turning our back on the river to being a true riverfront community. Now you can actually watch the river flow by.”
Cities often have ambitious master plans that don’t work. The mayor of Fergus Falls believes this plan worked because public money sparked growth of private investment. And city leaders plan for continued growth. Near the old flour mill is space for more development: 28 acres of green space on what used to be a dairy facility.
Solventum, the 3M health care spinoff, might be keeping its home base in Minnesota after speculation it could eventually set up its headquarters out of state.
The company is working with the city of Eagan to move into an existing commercial building there and is seeking state support for the major upgrades the campus will need to accommodate upwards of 800 employees working on-site every day.
There was concern Solventum could exit the state after leaving its short-term home on the 3M campus in Maplewood. San Antonio, home of major subsidiary Acelity, was a possible target, and Solventum had not made any pledges to remain in Minnesota.
“Other states (and countries) are generously courting the company to move to their jurisdiction, and the bulk of the company’s business is, in fact, not currently located in Minnesota,” an Eagan City Council resolution read. “The company could downsize its workforce currently located at the 3M corporate campus in Minnesota and move employees to any of the company’s 29 locations outside of Minnesota.”
Instead, the state might keep its newest public company, and the Twin Cities could continue to boast yet another Fortune 500 business.
To make that happen, Solventum is looking for an as-yet-unspecified level of funding from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), likely many millions given the “large amount of capital investment” needed, according to city documents.
“The assistance to be provided by DEED is appropriate and necessary to retain an existing business in Minnesota,” the resolution said.
Solventum spun off from 3M on April 1 this year. It manufactures a range of medical devices, bandages, dental supplies and other products. The company earned roughly $8 billion in annual revenue when it was a part of 3M.
Two central Minnesota banks are merging to bolster the size and resources of the community institutions.
First State Bank of Sauk Centre and Little Falls-based Pine Country Bank will operate as Pine Country Bank, per a Monday announcement. Regulatory authorities have already approved the merger, which will complete in January.
“We’d be considered an agricultural bank,” said Rob Ronning, CEO of Pine Country Bank. “It makes up the largest portion of our portfolio.”
Ronning said the merged bank’s lending limit will likely increase from $4.1 million to $6.2 million. As of June 30, Pine Country Bank had assets of $244 million and First State Bank had assets of $157 million.
Holding company MidCountry Acquisition, based in Minneapolis, owned and operated both banks and drove their merger.
“They were just looking to get more efficient,” Ronning said of MidCountry’s motivation to combine the financial entities.
Pine Country Bank — which began in 1927 as the Royalton State Bank — has branches in Little Falls, Rice and Royalton. First State Bank has locations in Sauk Centre and downtown Minneapolis. Pine Country has 40 employees while First State employs 15 staffers.
Last week, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by half a percentage point. Ronning is optimistic about the impact of that on the banking industry.
As well-wishers flocked Officer Ikran Mohamed, 4-year-old Amira Shafii raised her little arm in a proud salute — her auntie’s new police cap perched lopsided on her head. The ‘junior officer’ cracked a smile.
Mohamed, dressed in a black hijab, adjusted her newly pinned badge with henna-laced hands. She’d just become the first Somali woman to ever join the Minneapolis Police Department.
“I want to be a role model for girls who look like me, so they can say ‘I can do it, too,” Mohamed, 23, told reporters Thursday night following a graduation ceremony honoring 11 new recruits and 12 lateral hires from other Minnesota law enforcement agencies.
“I’m just very excited to be here and represent my people and my community.”
Amira Shafii, 4, goes around saluting friends and relatives for photos wearing the police uniform cap of her aunt, officer Ikran Mohamed, who became the first Somali woman to become an officer with Minneapolis Police Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024 at the American Indian Center in Minneapolis, Minn.. ] AARON LAVINSKY • Aaron.lavinsky@startribune.com (Aaron Lavinsky/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Mohamed immigrated to the United States from Kenya when she was 10 years old. She previously worked as a corrections officer in Steele County.
Beside her, 27-year-old Officer Lesly Vera also had the power of representation on the mind. Vera became the first non-citizen to serve on the police force Thursday, marking a significant victory for immigration advocates.
Although thousands of lawful permanent residents and DACA recipients already serve in the United States military, many states maintain citizenship requirements for those seeking to become a licensed police officer. But in recent years, as law enforcement agencies across the nation have struggled to replenish their ranks with qualified candidates, a growing number have eliminated that requirement.
In 2023, at the recommendation of the Peace Officers’ Training Board, the Minnesota Legislature changed state law allowing for applicants who are either citizens or “eligible to work in the United States under federal requirements.”
