Reimagining education in an ever changing world

ReimAgining

education in an ever-changing world

It would be hard to overstate the impact COVID-19 has had on our school district, and education across the country. We’ve to reimagine how we deliver content and instruction, and we continue to adjust to ever-changing health information as we work to keep everyone safe. The good news is that in the face of the constant barrage of challenges this pandemic has presented, our district has continued to move forward. Our staff and students have risen to the occasion, showed their resilience, and strived for excellence. We accomplished many great things during the 201920 school year and I’m confident 2020-21 will be another successful year. Looking back to the end of last Guest Columnist year, we earned the community’s sup- Todd Sesker port for an operating levy to implement a 7-period day at the high school. Starting this fall, for the first time in over 30 years, Faribault students will have more opportunities to explore their interests and discover what they’re passionate about as they choose from 26 new course offerings.

We’ve also approved plans for a new early-childhood facility that will allow us to provide more opportunities for our youngest learners.

Our students continue to lead in our community. Last December, student groups raised over $14,000 for local families in need. We’ve had students make and donate dozens of blankets and pillows made for Ruth’s house, deliver care packages to military families, raise

$4,000 for a Faribault alum whose young child was diagnosed with cancer, raise $5,000 for the Special Olympics by participating in the Polar Plunge for the Special Olympics, collect can goods for the food shelf, and participate in many other service projects around our Faribault.

Our students have also excelled in extracurricular activities. Our DECA students qualified for state and national competitions. Our theater department put on outstanding productions. Our music students performed at the Minnesota Music Educators conference and won numerous individual awards. Our dance, track, swim and dive, wrestling, and gymnastics programs all had athletes qualify for state and proudly represent Faribault.

I believe our time in distance learning this spring served as a reminder of just how vital education is to our community and to society as a whole. I couldn’t be prouder of our staff for their commitment to educating our students, whether virtually or in person. I’ve been astounded by their ability to adapt, innovate and continue to find ways to connect with students.

Our administration has also worked tirelessly to respond to the ever-changing education landscape and establish our plans for this school year. So far, we’ve seen very positive results with our smaller class sizes keeping students safe and allowing for more individualized instruction.

This pandemic has forced us to look at education differently. It will be interesting to see what we learn and what adjustments we make to how we deliver instruction based on this experience.

We don’t know exactly what the future of education will look like, but we do know that we will continue to do everything we can to provide the best education possible for our students and families. We will learn, adjust, and keep what we value. I am optimistic and excited about the future of Faribault Public Schools.

Todd Sesker is superintendent of Faribault Public Schools.

PROGRESS

mOVin’ On uP in new building, Faribault’s trystar well positioned For growth

Story By Andrew Deziel

With support from the city of Faribault and Rice County, a homegrown Faribault business is settling into roomy new digs that will enable it to stay and grow locally for years to come. Founded in 1992 by Rick Dahl, Trystar manufactures temporary electrical power units for commercial and emergency services purposes. Its products are particularly in demand when natural disaster hits — and they’ve been in demand more than ever in recent months. The commercial side of its business, which typically produces units for large events and festivals, has been flattened by the pandemic. However, that’s more than been made up for by the emergency services side.

In addition to producing units for testing stations and other emergency medical uses, Trystar has seen significant demand as hurricane season gets into full swing. According to CEO AJ Smith, August was the company’s busiest month ever.

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Until Met-Con completes a 20,000 square-foot addition, Trystar’s sales staff are working in small cubicles on its factory floor. (Andrew Deziel/southernminn.com)

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Even before the pandemic, Trystar had seen robust demand and growth for years. With a reputation for quality and an ability to get its products to customers in a timely CEO AJ Smith fashion, it won devoted customers from all over the world.

Since 1997, Trystar has worked closely with Faribault’s Met-Con Cos. to meet its space needs as they increased. By last year, the company had 150 full-time employees in Faribault and even more during peak times, but they were spread out over no fewer than five facilities. While all of those buildings are located in north Faribault’s industrial park, Smith said the arrangement hindered the company’s efficiency. The company sought a solution as far back as 2012, but a proposed 170,000 square-foot facility in Shakopee never came to fruition.

Efforts to address Trystar’s space situation kicked into high gear again in 2018, when Dahl sold the company to Goldner Hawn Johnson & Morrison, a Twin Cities-based equity firm which quickly brought in Smith, a former Honeywell executive, to run the ship.

After more than a decade at the much larger Honeywell, Smith turned his focus to taking an informed but unique approach at the much smaller Trystar. One of his first moves as CEO was to open a new office in Burnsville.

Smith has said that the new location has proven to be a recruiting tool for Twin Citiesbased workers. It’s also convenient for customers, thanks to its proximity to the MinneapolisSt. Paul International Airport, though Trystar does most of its actual product shipment via land.

Smith then turned his attention to dealing with Trystar’s space problem. Despite the company’s investment in Burnsville, Smith said his goal was to keep the company’s main location in Faribault, enabling it to maintain existing partnerships and avoid uprooting its workforce.

Initially, Trystar and Met-Con explored the option of expanding one of the company’s existing Faribault locations. However, they discovered that under the current building code, none of those sites could be expanded sufficiently to meet the company’s needs.

While it was not the company’s preference, Trystar expanded its search to include potential

A homegrown Faribault company, Trystar employs 150 full-time employees and hires an additional 50 during peak times. (Andrew Deziel/southernminn.com)

‘if we tried to attract a new company to Faribault, it would probably cost 10 times this amount. the amount that we’re going to put into tax abatement to retain this company here seems to be a no-brainer for me.’

– Faribault City Councilor Tom Spooner

sites in Burnsville and Lakeville. There, it found several sites that could accommodate current needs and future growth for an affordable price.

As an effort to stay in town, Trystar inquired about a 100,000-square foot warehouse recently constructed by Met-Con. It was built for the Cheese Cave, Faribault Foods and SageGlass, but those companies expressed interest in moving into the facilities Trystar would vacate instead.

While this option could meet the needs of all companies, it would cost about $550,000 more for TryStar than comparable options in the south metro. About $400,000 of this was due to higher rent over a period of time, and $150,000 to accommodate needed building modifications.

Because the project wouldn’t be tied to a new company or new jobs, get funding from it from traditional economic development agencies was a challenge. Instead, Rice County and the city of Faribault stepped in.

To city and county officials, the move was largely uncontroversial. According to a memo from Faribault Community and Economic Development Director Deanna Kuennen, 80% of a city’s new jobs and investment traditionally come from existing firms.

“If we tried to attract a new company to Faribault, it would probably cost 10 times this amount,” Faribault City Councilor Tom Spooner said in March. “The amount that we’re going to put into tax abatement to retain this company here seems to be a no-brainer for me.”

Faribault’s Economic Development Authority joined the city and county in the investment, approving a $100,000 loan, forgivable after five years. The remaining $450,000 was covered via tax abatement. In a tax abatement district, additional value due to development is diverted to cover the cost of development. In total, the city’s portion of the abatement was $260,040, with the county covering $189,960. Both agreements stretch out over a 10-year period.

With help from Met-Con and the companies which had previously occupied the building, Trystar was able to move into the new facility in July. However, the project isn’t quite done yet, with a 20,000 square-foot office addition not scheduled for completion until November.

In the meantime, Trystar’s office staff have been huddled in workstations on the factory floor. Smith said with a laugh that they’ve had to get a bit creative, wearing headphones to block out most of the noise and enable them to do their job.

Ironically, the pandemic provided a slight boost to Trystar’s efforts to move into its new facility. Smith said that when it hit, the demand for Faribault Foods’s canned goods spiked so dramatically that it suddenly no longer needed the extra storage space in the facility.

SageGlass was the other main occupant of the 100,000 square-foot building, with Prairie

Farms only occupying a small portion of the space. Smith praised SageGlass’s efforts to make the move as seamless as possible.

“It took a lot of coordination, but they made it easy for us because they were so collaborative,” he said.

For his part, Met-Con’s Troy Zabinski said he was pleased to have been able to find a solution that worked for everyone involved. Like Trystar, Met-Con is a home-grown business, started by Faribault native Tom McDonough out of his garage in the late 1970s.

Smith praised Met-Con’s work, describing the new building as “state of the art.” He said that the roomy new facility fits Trystar’s needs “perfectly” and will serve as a solid “foundation for growth.”

“It’s very difficult to deal with these times, but this will set us up to grow and increase our business over time,” he said. “We’re so glad to have found a place 3 miles up the road didn’t disrupt our operations.”

Reach Reporter Andrew Deziel at 507-333-3129 or follow him on Twitter @FDNandrew

This 20,000 square-foot addition, once complete, will house some of Trystar’s office staff. (Andrew Deziel/ southernminn.com)

“it’s very difficult to deal with these times, but this will set us up to grow and increase our business over time. We’re so glad to have found a place 3 miles up the road didn’t disrupt our operations.

– CEO AJ Smith

Trystar’s new facility sits

just across the road from

Met-Con Cos., with which it has had a longtime partnership. (Andrew Deziel/ southernminn.com)