Advertisement
The workers rebuilding Rushford Foods were also working on faith.
Rushford Foods — the city’s only grocer — is slated to reopen today. Hoinness said construction crews have been rebuilding and restocking the store since shortly after the August floods, and were willing to work on promise of later payment.
Now, with an agreement in place to offer 90-percent forgivable loans to flooded Rushford businesses, Hoiness says he is breathing “a huge sigh of relief.”
DEED commissioner Dan McElroy said the agreement will send $17.5 million from the Minnesota Investment Fund to Rushford businesses. Those funds are drawn from the $35 million appropriated by state legislators in a Sept. 11 special session.
The new loan plan should allow businesses like Rushford Foods to remain as pillars of the community. Hoiness said that might not have been possible under the stricter terms offered by the Department of Employment and Economic Development in previous relief proposals.
Initial proposals called for anywhere from one-third to half of the state loans to be forgiven, with Small Business Administration loans required to cover the balance. Many business owners would have been required to secure those loans with their homes and personal property — a step some said they wouldn’t take.
Under the DEED proposals, part of the repaid portions of the loans would have
gone back into state coffers. That drew criticism from
lawmakers, who said the money was intended to go strictly to flood victims.
So Rushford officials and lawmakers like Sen. Sharon Erickson Ropes, DFL-Winona, and Rep. Ken Tschumper, DFL-La Crescent, pressured DEED to offer better terms.
Christina Friederichs, vice-chair of the Rushford Economic Development Authority, said local representatives hammered out the new agreement with assistant DEED commissioner Paul Moe on Monday. The Rushford City Council then quickly approved the deal Monday night.
Friederichs said the $17.5 million in aid is “incredibly generous,” though she believes the city’s business losses are nearer to $25 million.
“Nobody is going to recover everything they lost,” Friederichs said. “We want to make sure everyone has what they need to survive.”
For Rushford Foods, Hoiness said it was critical to reopen as soon as possible to avoid further losses. If the business had waited until now to start rebuilding, Hoiness said it likely would not have reopened until January.
Hoiness acknowledged the condition of Rushford’s economy remains a “real uncertainty.” Many residents have relocated elsewhere, either permanently or temporarily.
But Hoiness says the good-faith work of crews to rebuild his store — and his community — have supplied an incalculable boost.
“Between all the volunteer efforts and the massive cleanup,” Hoiness said. “It’s been inspiring to us all.”
