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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

New energy and vitality

North Country communities recognize the value of working together

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It’s hard to miss that something is afoot in communities here in the North Country. If you haven’t noticed, it’s worth pointing out that there is new energy and enthusiasm popping up just about everywhere.

Just last week, we were writing about the ORR Center and the incredible work that folks there are doing to transform a community institution that had been abandoned into a generator of community vitality and, perhaps most importantly, of hope.

Not long ago, we were writing about the dedicated efforts of folks in Cook, who spent years working to achieve their goal of building a new community center, which is now open and outstanding from all the reviews.

We’ve also been reporting for the past couple years about the tremendous energy in Ely right now. With groups like Incredible Ely cheering the way, and organizations like the Ely Folk School showing tremendous progress and promise, Ely is headed in the right direction. It helps to have developers like the Otts, as well, injecting much-needed private sector capital and know-how into the equation.

Now, this week, we report on the formation of the Tower-Soudan Community Development Corporation, which will be a nonprofit development group that hopes to make a real difference. We’ve heard it for years that Tower-Soudan, as a community, is a diamond in the rough, ready for some polishing, and that’s what the new group hopes to do.

A community development corporation is different from a chamber of commerce or an advocacy group, although it could serve some of those same functions. The focus, however, will be on hands-on projects, from enhancements to Tower’s entrance and Main Street, to housing, to economic development and job creation.

Like any new group, the TSCDC can’t do everything all at once. They’ll start small and build capacity for the future, but they have high ambitions and a growing number of local residents and business owners who recognize that now is the time to jumpstart the local economy and build on the quality of life that people already enjoy in the community.

With the new state park campground opening next spring, folks in Tower are hoping to put their best foot forward. Addressing blighted properties, filling the retail holes on Main Street, and developing better signage are just some of the group’s initial goals. Longer term, the group is looking at some innovative housing projects, encouragement of local food systems, creating more recreational and educational opportunities, and recruitment of more entrepreneurs to the community.

What all of these developments have in common is a recognition that community and economic development in our region is really up to us. For so long, there’s been an attitude that economic development is something that we’re supposed to sit and wait for. As if jobs will, somehow, magically appear. But what we’re seeing today are folks who have recognized that we are the ones with the power to make our communities successful. There’s a role for outside help, for sure, but in the end, it really comes down to the work we all do together. That’s an important recognition for every community, and it’s one that’s clearly made an impression here in the North Country. Let’s continue to build on the progress we create together.