On the edge

Border city businesses face unique challenges

BY KRIS BEVILL

North Dakota’s prosperity is a benefit for ever yone in the region, including bordering Minnesota cities, says Chuck Chadwick, executive director of the Moorhead Business Association.

“We see it as an opportunity,” he says “We want [North Dakota] to be successful and continue to utilize their natural resources. With that being said we want the border cities of East Grand Forks, Moorhead, Breckenridge and Dilworth to share in those good times There are some challenges [but] it’s making us even better because it’s bringing some issues to the front and we are working through those things ”

Specifically, Chadwick says North Dakota’s current financial advantage over Minnesota is “pretty overwhelming ” Lower property taxes and fewer regulations in North Dakota can put Minnesota business owners at a disadvantage, but Chadwick says legislation created specifically to help alleviate the financial differences in border communities helps to even the playing field.

“Minnesota does recognize the issue and is doing the best it can, ” he says

The Disparity Reduction Credit applies to the four Minnesota cities along North Dakota’s eastern border and allows homeowners and businesses to apply for a variety of property tax credits with the goal of eliminating property tax disparities and encouraging thriving business economies Les Stenerson, president of Stenerson Lumber and president of the Moorhead Business Association, says the program does help and retaining it through future years will be key to the continued growth of border town business sectors. “We need to make sure that [the program] stays as good as it is and that we can even grow it as the disparity grows, ” he says While the challenges facing Minnesota’s border communities are numerous, there are also some advantages depending upon location and industry In Moorhead, the most prominent advantage compared to neighboring Fargo is extensive flood protection, something which is lacking on the other side of the river “Moorhead is high and dry and we ’ re proud of that,” Stenerson says “We spent $90 million to protect our city from floods and that’s something we should be proud of ”

Moorhead has also recently attracted several multimillion dollar projects, including a Sam’s Club and cutting-edge Sanford Health clinic as well as notable residential development on the city’s south side, which Chadwick says should inspire confidence among the city’s business community. He adds, however, that while the association welcomes new businesses to the city, it was created about five years ago to support Moorhead’s existing businesses and that will continue to be its primary focus

“We are not opposed to new business of course, but as in many communities, the existing business community tends to be forgotten and taken for granted,” Chadwick says “Our aim is to change that and develop a voice for the business community in the city.”

Stenerson Lumber has been doing business in Moorhead since 1942 and Stenerson agrees that the city’s business community was fragmented until recently “We were a lot of businesses in a town that didn’t work together and didn’t know each other,” he says. “We’re making huge strides w ith that.” Weekly networking oppor tunities bring business leaders together and concer ted efforts led by the association help to keep local legislators in tune with the needs of the business community, he says

The group hopes to also increase connections with other border city business leaders to make even more clear to the state the unique needs of border town businesses

But while the bordering communities may be at a slight disadvantage to their North Dakota neighbors, both Chadwick and Stenerson stress that the differences are not that many and are far outnumbered by shared interests For example, about 60 percent of Moorhead’s residents cross the Red River to work in North Dakota every day, so the city clearly benefits directly from North Dakota’s success, Chadwick says

But Moorhead would also like to grow its own base and promote its own unique identity no easy task for a community sitting in the shadow of North Dakota’s largest (and quickly growing) city. “We do not want to be like Fargo,” Chadwick says “That is not our goal Our goal is to be like Moorhead, Minn. We are a unique community with unique shops and people. We have lots of opportunities and a lot of advantages We just need to have those better communicated ” PB

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