Opinion: Who's looking out for the businesses?

When someone is looking to start or expand their business in Cloquet, they usually call City Hall first. If they do, they’ll be directed to Holly Hansen, Cloquet’s community development director. Holly Hansen has been with the city for over a decade, working behind the scenes (and in the forefront, too) to make sure Cloquet stays healthy, businesswise. She joined us on Harry’s Gang this week to explain what she does, how she does it, and what is happening around town.

Many people are familiar with the local retail scene, but unless you are directly affected by the big employers in town, you probably have very little interaction with them. From the 700-plus employees at Sappi to the hundreds at USG and at Upper Lakes Foods, and the local businesses operated by the Fond du Lac Band, nearly everyone in town is affected by the health of these businesses. One of Hansen’s jobs is to make sure those businesses have a healthy relationship with the city.

“Recently, for example, we sat down with USG,” Hansen said on Harry’s Gang this week. The group discussed the city’s resources and informed USG of its ability to assist in financing, and address infrastructure, among other things. She’d do the same for any enterprise looking to expand within the city.

She also discussed the West End of downtown where, I think, the most notable landmark is the Pine Knot News office.

Hansen didn’t agree with my assessment, though. “The Avenue C restaurant was a great start. It brought people into the area and exposed them to the West End again,” she said. “It’s too bad that didn’t work out.”

Much like with Duluth’s developing Lincoln Park business district, renewed interest often takes off when a combination of low costs, business incentives, and a strong anchor make an area ripe for revitalization.

So, the city has secured funding to help with financing purchase and remodeling costs in that area, and even has a small grant program.

The goal is to see that area expand with business and services — the funding is not designed to facilitate housing in the area. “Housing issues are important in Cloquet, but that’s not the focus of this program,” Hunter said.

We also discussed development north of town. “The industrial park has lots of great space available,” she said. The park was originally developed by the private Cloquet Development and Industrial Corporation group, which disbanded and turned the property over to the city. It’s been platted; utilities are in and roads were constructed just in time for the Great Recession, which stalled development. “The business park hasn’t really rebounded from that recession,” Hansen said.

People often ask me if Target is coming to town. Hansen confirmed that Target is probably not coming to Cloquet anytime soon. “We haven’t talked with Target in over five years,” she told me.

While Target had expressed interest in the Cloquet market in the past, Big Box retail is evolving and Target has decided that Cloquet just isn’t in its plans, Hansen said.

It’s nice to know that a business-friendly community like Cloquet has such an active and effective community development director in Holly Hansen.

Pete Radosevich is the publisher of the Pine Knot News community newspaper and an attorney in Esko who hosts the talk show Harry’s Gang on CAT-7. He can be reached at [email protected].