Otter Tail County highlights business resources for growth and funding

Otter Tail County’s June 30 business resources page points Fergus Falls shop owners looking to expand, Perham manufacturers trying to hire, and Pelican Rapids startup founders toward the county’s business support system. The tools are meant for startups, existing businesses, entrepreneurs, employers and community partners, with help tied to funding, workforce support and future planning.

What the county is offering

Otter Tail County’s business resources page serves as a central entry point, not a narrow industrial-development notice board. Residents can search resources by business stage and need, review the county’s Business Development Strategy, and subscribe to a business development newsletter.

The county’s business and workforce hub lays out the menu in plain terms. It includes financial resources, the Community Growth Partnership Grant, no-cost advising from the Small Business Development Center, emergency and disaster planning, a septic system loan program, broadband and internet support, employer resources, job seeker resources, youth workforce connections and the OTC Works strategy. For an owner working through financing, labor or site-readiness problems at the same time, those issues are in one place instead of sending people from office to office.

The Community Development Agency’s purpose is to strengthen communities by expanding housing opportunities, promoting business development and coordinating public and private resources. Community Development and Housing is focused on recruitment of visitors and residents, community development, and business creation, expansion and retention.

How to move from interest to action

The system follows a simple sequence for anyone who wants to use it. Start on the Business & Development Resources page, sort the help by whether the need is startup, expansion, financing or workforce, and then move into the specific program page that fits the problem. From there, users can move to the strategy document, newsletter sign-up and program-specific links for funding, advising or workforce help.

A new owner in New York Mills may need startup guidance and no-cost advising. A Battle Lake employer may need help recruiting workers, while a Pelican Rapids property owner may need support for rehabilitation or redevelopment. The same system is meant to handle all of them.

Why workforce is at the center

Otter Tail County’s business development strategy ties business growth to workforce, housing, child care and broadband, and pegs the county economy at $2.95 billion in GDP. OTC Works says more than 2,800 jobs will need to be filled over the next 10 years.

The county hired a Workforce Navigator in May 2024. The Empowered Worker Program had enrolled 44 participants, backed by a $250,000 Drive for 5 grant from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development and another $300,000 in American Rescue Plan funding. The state’s Drive for 5 effort is aimed at high-demand jobs in caring professions, education, manufacturing, technology and the trades, making the county’s use of the program a direct response to current labor shortages.

OTC Works is built around that same problem. The strategy is designed to promote opportunities, provide training that improves recruitment and retention, and build connections for workforce development. Board Chair Kurt Mortenson said the strategy was developed to help employers recruit and retain workers more effectively, and to create partnerships that address workforce needs through training, barrier reduction and welcoming workplaces.

What the county has already put into motion

The county’s 2024 Community Development and Housing annual report shows how those tools are landing on the ground. It shows 106 Tax Rebate Program applications were approved, nearly $948,750 in Minnesota DEED Small Cities Development Program funds supported residential and commercial rehabilitation in Pelican Rapids, and 10 first-time homebuyers outside Fergus Falls and Perham received lower-interest mortgages and down-payment assistance through the Minnesota Cities Participation Program.

The Community Growth Partnership Grant is funded by the Community Development Agency and is meant to increase the tax base and improve quality of life through affordable workforce and supportive housing, plus redevelopment of blighted or under-used areas. For towns trying to keep downtown buildings occupied, add workforce housing or make room for an expansion, that grant is aimed at one of the biggest local barriers: the gap between business interest and the physical space workers and owners need to sustain it.