Economic Development high in the area

Economic Development continues to grow in Marshall and the Lyon County area.
Tuesday Tara Onken, Economic Development Authority Director, told the Lyon County Board, “There is a lot going on in Marshall and the entire Lyon County area.”
Marshall’s Commerce Park is ready for development within a half mile of Highway 59. It is zoned general industrial with on-site storm water retention, utility services, substation, broadband service and natural gas.
“The City of Marshall has over 200 plus acres of industrial park land available for development.”
“One of the factors used is a ‘Pull Factor,’ which is a name used to describe how much business the community is ‘pulling’ into the area.”
“A good pull factor is 1.0 and the Marshall EDA had a 1.56 pull factor, indicating the City of Marshall is generating 56 percent more than expected, based on population,” said Onken.
“Our population  is becoming more diversified,“ said Onken.
“Our family levels below the poverty line has continued to decline,” said Onken. There are 410 families below poverty level, she indicated.
According to the Marshall EDA report, “Marshall has consistently been below the state and county unemployment rate over the past 10 years.”
“Among the progress made by the Marshall EDA are additional developments at the MERIT Center, the addition of Aldi Grocery and expansions at Menards and Grace Life Church.”
“The EDA is continuing redevelopment at Furniture Mart USA. There have been several renovations of local restaurants and business, start of construction of a new apartment complex in Marshall and completion of a state-of-the-art expansion of try Shrimp in Balaton,” wrote Greg Bucher, EDA president.
He also noted that, “In the out-of-Marshall area, Russell has expanded the Meadowland Farmers Co-op with a new agronomy center; expansion of Chasing Our Tails from New Hampshire into Tracy and Minneota and the new Dollar General Store in Minneota.”
Many other new buildings also were developed in Marshall and in the Lyon County area.
Onken said, among the many items developed was a “bicycle friendly community” and safer routes for traffic both along Highway 23 in addition to safe routes to the schools in Marshall.
She said there were, 380 residential building permits valued at $7.62 million.
There were 91 commercial permits for $9.55 million in 2018.
Other figures revealed by Onken include the fact the unemployment rate is at 3.6 percent.
While attendance at Southwest Minnesota State University is down, enrollment at Marshall Public Schools has risen. “That means families are still moving in,” Onken said.
Vacant housing has decreased the past three years from 3.1 percent to 2.2 percent.