Expanding in all areas

Health care, manufacturing, agriculture among industries planning expansion in Fergus Falls

BY KRIS BEVILL

The expansion theme that has become so common elsewhere throughout much of the region is also taking hold in Minnesota lakes country communities including Fergus Falls, a town of about 13,000 people located about an hour’s drive southeast of Fargo. Several existing employers are expanding in 2014 and other new businesses are planned for the area as well, leaving community leaders optimistic for what the future holds.

Fergus Falls-based Lake Region Healthcare currently employees nearly 900 people throughout its network and more than 800 of them are located in Fergus Falls. The health care provider has been steadily expanding in recent years and plans to continue to do so this year in order to accommodate the growing need for its services. The list of projects includes a home medical supply store in Fergus Falls — Lake Region Home Medical Supply — which will offer home medical equipment such as oxygen, sleep apnea equipment, rehab equipment and men’s and women’s specialty items. The store is a joint venture between Lake Region Healthcare and Willmar, Minn.-based Rice Home Medical, which has established four similar retail stores in the area.

Lake Region Healthcare CEO Larry Schulz says home medical equipment is a strategic growth area for the organization. “We recognize there is a need for easy access to many types of quality medical supplies and equipment in Fergus Falls and it makes sense for us to expand our services to fill that need as we strive to help people in our region improve their health,” he says.

The retail store is expected to open this spring and will initially employ up to five people and may expand to include additional employees and products in the future.

Plans are also in the works for Lake Region Healthcare to begin constructing a new clinic next to its hospital in Fergus Falls later this year. “We’ve gone from 46 to 71 providers over the last three years,” Schulz says.

“We need space for them to provide service and create accessibility for our patients.” He anticipates that a groundbreaking for the new clinic could be held this fall with an opening date tentatively planned for 2015.

Fergus Falls Mayor Hal Leland says he is pleased that the city’s largest employer is able to continue meeting the needs of the community. “This clinic expansion will allow them to do even more and bring in more specialties and provide more jobs,” he says. “We are extremely excited about that.”

With an unemployment rate of around 4 percent, Fergus Falls is not immune to the region’s struggle to attract the workers it needs to satisfy employers’ demands, but Schulz says he is optimistic Lake Region Healthcare will be able to attract employees without having to look outside of the region. “Overall we have been fortunate to avoid severe shortages, although it is taking us longer to fill certain positions,” he says. “Other than for physician recruitment we have not had the need to engage in recruitment efforts to draw in employees from elsewhere.”

Leland says community leaders are actively working with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development as well as Minnesota State Community and Technical College to attract workers and provide the skilled training needed by the area’s industries so that they can continue expanding. Among those in need of skilled workers is Innova Industries, a metal fabricating company, which is completing a 50,000 square foot expansion. “They, along with all the other manufacturers, are having a hard time finding machinists, welders and other kinds of specialties in the manufacturing area so that they can either expand or add another shift, so yes, this is an extremely concerning area,” Leland says.

West Central Initiative, a community foundation serving westcentral Minnesota that provides gap lending, recently closed loans for six Fergus Falls businesses, including one for Innova’s expansion project. Dale Umlauf, WCI’s vice president of business development, says the number of loans is evidence that manufacturing is being revitalized in Fergus Falls.

Agriculture also continues to be a dominant force in the Fergus Falls economy and a new project planned for 2014 represents an expansion into a new area of the industry. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s rural development agency recently approved a $2.1 million loan guarantee for Great River Energy to finance the purchase of equipment for Vertical Farms LLC, a year-round indoor growing and packaging facility. The facility will initially produce lettuce and plans to expand to include herbs, spinach and strawberries. WCI, the city of Fergus Falls and the Fergus Falls Port Authority are also funding participants in the first-of-its-kind project, which is expected to create about 14 jobs. “This is great news for Fergus Falls and for the region,” said Congressman Collin Peterson. “Value-added produce is making great strides in our rural communities along with the desire for local foods, and this will be a nice boost to the local economy.” PB

Kris Bevill Editor, Prairie Business 701-306-8561, kbevill@prairiebizmag.com