LAIC Buys into Main Street Program; Madison the New India?

Two noteworthy economic developments are afoot in Madison. First, I hear from my local correspondents that Lake Area Improvement Corporation director Julie Gross has officially endorsed—i.e., spent money!—on making Madison part of the Main Street program. The idea of the LAIC doing exactly what I recommend under previous do-nothing CYA director Dwaine Chapel. But Gross has bought into Main Street and convened a downtown development committee that is open to the public. I hope this isn't a sign that we are going to freeze over hard this winter.

The LAIC also gets to toot its horn about Dakota State University's new partnership with Advantenon, the evil overlord of Gamma Regulus whose robot hordes are invading this sector of the galaxy—oh, oops! Sorry, the cool alien name threw me.

Advantenon develops software for mobile devices. They base their business model on employing college students in rural areas to keep costs down—i.e., to pay less wages than they would hiring experienced talent in spendy urban areas. Advantenon discusses this strategy on a page called "Why Rural?"

Advantenon delivers mobile applications more efficiently, with fewer issues than applications outsourced to offshore teams, at costs up to 50% less than traditional on-site development.

By leveraging technically competent resources in lower cost rural communities, project costs are significantly reduced. By combining staff located outside major metropolitan areas with a limited number of onsite resource Advantenon delivers the benefits of rural and onsite flexibility [Advantenon, "Why Rural?" company website, retrieved November 5, 2012]. 

For years, IT companies have been saving money by offshoring labor to India and other lower-wage countries. The labor cost-savings outweigh the disadvantages of language barriers, time-zone separation, and quality control. As wages in India catch up with the West, the cost advantage erodes. South Dakota wages may still carry a premium over India, but they are 29% lower than in Minnesota, Advantenon's home base. Hire college students, and the premium is even less. For their money, Advantenon gets quality work (you DSU kids do have the storied Midwestern work ethic, don't you?) from folks who sprechen sie Englisch, are smack in the middle of most North American customers' time zone range, and are a short domestic flight away from a snap inspection by the boss.

This can be our niche, South Dakota! Get trained, know your tech, and you can be the next Indians. You won't even have to make up a normal sounding name to answer the phone... until the Chinese become our primary customers.

And when you get done with work, you'll be able to walk downtown and enjoy a wonderfully revitalized commercial and cultural core district.

Memo to LAIC: Update Physical and Virtual Main Street Storefronts

My wife and I lament the pitiable state of many building façades in downtown Madison. Too many of the storefronts have tacked up tacky plastic and metal signs over

The Lake Area Improvement Corporation mostly ignores downtown. They briefly touted, then cold-dropped a Main Street and More! program that achieved nothing. The LAIC is apparently too busy pouring money into insider deals for housing developments and its federally subsidized industrial park on the edge of town. The LAIC's only demonstrated interest in building downtown came in its involvement in the real-estate shell game that has led to big ICAP move, which is another example of Madison's reliance on government handouts and socialism.

If the LAIC can't be bothered to promote real downtown renovation and capitalist opportunities, maybe we can arouse their interest in a little virtual downtown renovation. Mike Knutson at the Rural Learning Center discovers a really cool economic development project undertaken by the smart people in Ord, Nebraska. Since 2007, the Ord Chamber of Commerce has offered its downtown businesses $5000 no-interest loans to put toward fixing up their storefronts. Now the Ord Chamber is expanding the acceptable use of those loans to support updating online storefronts.

The Ord Chamber explains the new program on their blog (their blog, Dwaine. Their blog.). The program doesn't rely on a big federal handout. It got rolling when a local bank applied for an won a $25,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka.

The LAIC loves signs and façades; our economic developers should be all over a project that makes our downtown look better on the street and online. How about we raise $25,000 for a physical and virtual storefront renovation loan program this way: For every dollar us regular folks contribute, the LAIC will match with a dollar taken out of LAIC exec's Dwaine Chapel's $100K-plus salary. We could redirect $12,500 from unaccountable salary to real Main Street improvements... and Chapel would still be one of the best-paid Brookings commuters in town.

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p.s.: The Dakota Drug building, one of the best-located retail properties on Madison's main street, has been on the market for two months. $99,900 gets you two stories and 6800+ square feet of prime retail opportunity. As of this morning, the LAIC still has not added this choice property to its Available Properties webpage.

Two Scoops of Socialism: SDSU Ice Cream Downtown!

Don't tell me the State can't do anything right!

South Dakota State University, my alma mater, makes some of the best ice cream in the state. The SDSU dairy program also makes some smart business moves. Ryan Woodard reports in the Brookings Register that SDSU has opened the Campanile Connection, a shop selling SDSU ice cream and cheese in downtown Brookings.

The new shop is getting up and running right next door to Sioux River Cyclery (a long bike ride always makes me hungry for ice cream!). SDSU instructor and dairy plant manager Howard Bonneman also looks eagerly to the gymnastics center next door and the spectacular new Children's Museum just a couple blocks away as sources of hungry little coneheads.

This new state-owned business (SDSU's second downtown venture this year, following a new branch of the campus bookstore to Main Street) isn't putting too much of a squeeze on other businesses. With Zesto's now moved out to the University Mall, there's no ice cream vendor within reasonable walking distance of downtown. There's no grocer downtown, either—hmm... maybe the Campanile Connection can snag some SDSU beef as well!

This kind of town-and-gown connection is good for everyone. The dairy products students make in their dairy-micro classes gets put to good use instead of getting thrown out. Students and residents get to make connections through commerce and chocolate revel. And everyone has one more reason to spend the day in the wonderful destination into which downtown Brookings is making itself.

Maybe DSU here in Madison can do something like this. Maybe our Tech Fellows could open a branch office downtown to provide cheap tech support for the community. Maybe our programming classes could open up a shop, Widgets While u Wait, whipping up quick Facebook event pages, blog polls, and other Web gizmos in under an hour.

SDSU ice cream: totally socialist, and totally good for downtown. Two scoops, please!

Madison Biz Opp: Downtown Corner Retail, <$100K

The Madison Daily Leader marks the retirement of longtime local pharmacist Bob Schamber. Schamber's retirement also brings the closing of Dakota Drug, a fixture of downtown retail since I was a kid...

...which brings us to this morning's underappreciated business opportunity. Go to HJN Team Realty's website, dig up Listing #2100643 for the Dakota Drug building. 6800 square feet. Two stories, including the really cool staircase and open second-floor retail space where I always looked at the puzzle books and comics when I was little. Great corner street parking and a big municipal parking lot right out back. Spectacular visibility, with a popular local restaurant right across the street. There's even an apartment included in the west side, the space where John Green used to have his studio.

Asking price: $99,900.

Less than $100K, for one of the best retail locations on Madison's Main Street.

Now if I had $100K burning a hole in my pocket, I'd still rather acquire the Masonic Temple and put a down payment on renovations. But the more sensible entrepreneurs among you, dear readers, must be able to see the potential of this prime downtown location. Perhaps Madison's bookstore could expand and open a used book emporium in the upstairs. Perhaps another electronics store could open to compete with Radio Shack across the street for the burgeoning market of technogeek DSU students. Perhaps a second coffeeshop could open and put out shady tables where we prairie intellectuals could gather to mock the tacky signs at the Stadium grill. Perhaps a frame shop and gallery could open to serve the remarkable number of artists in the neighborhood... and rent out the apartment as a rural artist retreat!

Given the importance of this building as a Main Street retail anchor, it's surprising the LAIC isn't promoting this business opportunity. (Then again, the LAIC's "Available Properties" page also fails to mention Bub's Service, Kearin's Service, and Doug's Auto, three other business opportunities just waiting for progressive, ambitious buyers eager to serve Lake County's automotive needs.) But hey, don't let the LAIC's blinders keep you from seeing the possibilities. Can you find the niche (sports equipment? outdoor store? baby gear?) that lets you compete with Pamida and Lewis? Can you repurpose this building into a community cultural center? Put your thinking caps on, get out your checkbook, and think up a new use for the Dakota Drug building!

What Recession? Brookings Gets 6 New Businesses Downtown Since January

Wow. The Facebook page for Brookings Downtown Inc. notes that six new businesses have opened downtown since January. Six:

1. Wedding Creations
2. Eddie Edwards Jewelry
3. Food and Health Concepts
4. Boss' Pizza (that's a problematic apostrophe)
   
5. Hometown Tire
6. Tom Anderson Optical

Can anyone tell me how long it has taken six new businesses to open in Madison's downtown? And can anyone tell me how long it will take Madison to follow Brookings's lead and engage in a serious downtown revitalization program (like the one the LAIC killed two years ago)?

Madison: Our Classy Town

That's the Stadium Sports Grill, bringing class to Main Street Madison since 2007.

M.O.B. Plays Masons Roof at Miracle Treat Day

So the Heidelbergers head downtown for Miracle Treat Day at Madison Dairy Queen. We knew there'd be music, but look where it's coming from:

That's M.O.B.—Michael Hope, David Christiansen, Paul Johnson, and Howard Hedger—playing Johnny Cash (and thinking U2) from the roof of the Masonic Temple.

Didn't expect that, did you?

Brookings Downtown Model for Madison

I don't want to move to Brookings. But I'd sure like to make Madison as cool as Brookings. While Madison dithers about the menace of tall grass and residents think a Wal-mart on the edge of town would improve our local economy, ever-progressive Brookings is building a thriving downtown.

What's so great about downtown Brookings?

1. Iconic local restaurants like Nick's Hamburger Shop and George's Pizza.
2. A 3% vacancy rate.
3. Downtown Brookings Inc., an association dedicated to real Main Street development, not just banners and flower baskets.
4. People who don't see a lack of parking as a problem. "People like to complain that we don’t have enough parking in downtown Brookings," Downtown Brookings Inc. President Kris Struwe tells the Brookings Register. "That’s a good problem to have. That means people are shopping and eating here." If you go to a Twins or Vikings game, think about how far you walk from the parking lot to your stadium seats. It's probably longer than the length of either Madison's or Brookings's main street.
5. Shop owners are upgrading their facades.
   
6. Planners are considering pocket parks, little bits of green space amidst the already diverse mix of retail, services, and residences that make Main Street a place to hang out.

Madison, if you want to know how to revive our Main Street, the roadmap lies just 40 miles to our northeast. Brookings Crazy Daze is the same weekend as ours, July 30–31. I highly recommend everyone in Madison take a roadtrip to Brookings that Friday to see downtown development done right... just make sure you get back to Madison in time for Tonic Sol-fa!

White Night in Madison Tonight!

This evening's forecast: south wind 20 mph, temp around 80°F, humid, but clear sky, no thunderstorms in sight. Be glad of that breeze: it'll keep the mosquitoes away at Madison's first White Night event tonight on South Egan at the Brickhouse!

The Madison Area Arts Council has lined up five musical acts to perform from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. There will be artists on the street creating art before your very eyes. (There is something magical about present at creation.) You can sit on the curb, walk by the railroad tracks (watch for trains!), and treat Main Street like your living room.

Come downtown tonight, enjoy a legal beverage, and watch midsummer twilight settle oh-so-slowly over our fair city.

Madison's Next Subsidy: Downtown, Pavement, Utility Bills

The latest Madville Times poll shows readers split on what the ever-generous City of Madison should subsidize next. With handouts recently to Madison Farmers Elevator, East River Electric, Inter-Lakes Community Action Program, Rosebud, and James River Equipment, it seemed logical to ask what important project deserves the next round of funding from the City Commission. The five options presented in the Madville Times poll drew a divided response from 61 readers:

1. Renovating downtown storefronts: 16 votes (26%)
2. Paving gravel streets: 15 (24%)
3. Reducing utility rates: 15 (24%)
4. Building wind turbines: 8 (13%)
5. Restoring Masonic temple: 7 (11%)

Votes were evenly split among the top three suggestions. A quarter of respondents would like to renovate our downtown storefronts, perhaps by ripping out the chintzy tin work and other shoddy signage and restoring some of that lovely old brick work, not to mention looking up and fixing the old architecture that's crumbling all along the second level of our downtown buildings.

Another quarter would like to pave our gravel streets—as my mother has pointed out, folks on those gravel streets have paid for curb and gutter; they deserve some effort by the city to civilize the rest of their street.

Another quarter say everyone in Madison should get a subsidy in the form of a reduction of their utility rates. I'm actually surprised more readers didn't mark this option, given that the city raised electric rates 10% in this year's budget. I find it interesting (and heartening!) that, amid the din of the 9-12 Project hollering for smaller government, three in four readers are willing to keep paying their bills and directing their tax dollars toward projects to benefit the general welfare. (Then again, my sample consists of Madville Times readers, who surely include a disproportionate number of Communists and other unsavory elements, right? :-) )

The remaining quarter are split between providing incentives to build wind turbines around town and getting the Masonic temple back into shape. Alas, I'd like to see the Masonic temple at the top of that list, but that's why we have the discussion, to find out where the popular will lies. Too bad local government doesn't do more of that.

Thanks for voting, dear readers! Stay tuned for more fun, exciting, and locally relevant polls throughout the summer!

Madison Five-Year Plan: $5.2M for Infrastructure

...and right behind ICAP for subsidy: East River.

The Madison City Commission is looking into spending a million dollars a year to upgrade our streets and utilities. Tomorrow night's agenda includes the five-year Infrastructure Improvement Plan, which proposes to spend $5,234,000 on water mains, storm and sanitary sewer, and street work. The biggest ticket items: Center Street water works in 2012 and 2014, then Southeast Fourt Street water works in 2015. I would hope the Center Street project also includes fixing the bombed-out pavement from Washington Avenue east to Division and the stockyards.

Not included in the five-year plan: paving—not resurfacing, but just surfacing—of South Division, Southeast Third, or other stretches of gravel within city limits. Perhaps paving is in another budget? Or perhaps Madison just likes offering some select residents the dusty joys of country living in the big city.

Also on the agenda: East River Electric is asking the city to split the cost of improvements on South Harth Avenue. East River would like us to kick in $127,254 to help rebuild the street, improve draingage, and make it all look pretty. East River supports its request by saying the project will "improve the appearance of the city," improve traffic flow, "increase pedestrian safety," and support the city's effort to revitalize downtown (wait, the city has a downtown revitalization effort?).

East River's justifications are reasonable—well, except maybe for the traffic flow argument: how is it that in four decades of living in Madison, I've missed out city's terrible traffic jams? And East River's request is maybe only half of the subsidy the city handed ICAP on its Rosebud purchase.

Now if we could see the city offer some downtown revitalization subsidies to retailers actually on Main Street, we could be in business. I wonder, can Country Café apply for the city to split the cost of that new yellow paint job? How about a subsidy for Mochavino's new outdoor furniture? Or maybe a buyout and renovation of the Masonic Temple? Oh, the possibilities!

Taxpayers Eat Rosebud Pollution Cleanup Cost in Madison

As expected, the City of Madison has sold the old Rosebud property at a 66% loss. The non-profit Inter-Lakes Community Action Program gets a whole half-block of downtown Madison for $135,000 (plus up to a $10,000 share of clean-up costs). That's down from the $400,000 the city paid the LAIC after the economic development corporation paid former owner Rosebud Manufacturing $500,000 to vacate the premises.

As an eager reader noted, the city is playing quite a shell game but not creating any new shells.

Chuck Clement's on-the-spot report from last night's city commission meeting notes that the old Rosebud site has some EPA-rousing lead concentrations greater than 400 parts per million. Mayor Hexom assures us those lead concentrations are in (Clement's words) "two relatively small locations." And we're getting a nice brownfields restoration grant from Uncle Sam via the state DENR to help cover cleanup costs.

What strikes me is that the newspaper and the mayor make no mention of Rosebud's responsibility for this contamination. The city knew this was an industrial site with potential pollution and cleanup costs. Did we taxpayers really buy this property and let Rosebud go away free and clear? Was it really so important to us to shunt those grungy blue-collar workers away from our pretty little Main Street and replace them with shiny happy white-collar ICAP employees that we would let Rosebud split without assuming even a portion of the cost of cleaning up their own mess?

Conceivably, the pollution could predate Rosebud's occupancy of the block. But Rosebud operated there for forty years. It owned any problems on that land. The city should have been more diligent in holding Rosebud responsible for lead contamination and other problems that would make the land hard to redevelop.

But this is how Madison works. Let your grass grow taller than six inches, and Mayor Hexom will be on your case like flies on poop. Try to start a business the city finds objectionable, and the powers that be will stop you cold. Contaminate the ground with lead but play along with the city's shell game, and the taxpayers will bail you out.

City Sells Rosebud Lot to ICAP at 66% Loss

Roadmap for Saving the Masonic Temple?

After holding a twice extended option for a year and a half, Inter-Lakes Community Action Program is finally laying down the cash to buy the old Rosebud property and put up its own building. Saturday's MDL (not online yet) gives a cheer for this economic development. I'm happy for ICAP... but Madison is losing big.

Let's check the numbers:

• On February 15, 2008, the Lake Area Imrpvoement Corporation bought Rosebud's downtown properties for $500,000 as part of its land shell game to lever Rosebud's undesirable manufacturing out of downtown and out to the edge of town to refill the shuttered Arctic Cat plant. (The LAIC has since sold a couple of the smaller Rosebud plots for $35,000 and $500.)
• On February 15, 2008, the City of Madison bought the main half block of the Rosebud property, across the street from City Hall, for $400,000.
• In December, 2008, the City of Madison approved a deal arranged by LAIC for ICAP to purchase the Rosebud half-block from the city for $350,000.
  
• ICAP didn't buy right away. ICAP paid $5000 for a six-month exclusive purchase option. ICAP extended that option twice, $5000 each time. Total paid so far: $15,000.
  
• The city commission will consider a purchase agreement Tuesday night that gives the land to ICAP for $135,000. Minus the option payments, the actual cash to change hands is $120,000.
• ICAP will kick in up to $10,000 for remediation costs—i.e., removing lead-impacted soil. If I'm reading the agreement correctly, ICAP will also share up to $5000 of the cost of soil testing done since this year March 31.
  
• The city will approve Tuesday a brownfields grant agreement with the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources that should put another $50,000 of federal money toward removing and replacing about 400 cubic yards of lead-impacted soil.
• The city still bears the cost of demolishing the Rosebud buildings. I don't see a cost estimate on that aspect of the project in the city agenda, but I image we could lower that cost with a Crazy Days sledgehammer contest....
  

Looking at just the property purchase costs, the LAIC and City of Madison thus appear to have arranged a $265,000 handout to ICAP, 66% of the original purchase price.

I thought LAIC exec Dwaine Chapel once told me that the LAIC doesn't believe in handouts. I am at least pleased that they have changed their tune to benefit an organization that does good work like ICAP.

But subsidizing the community work of ICAP is the only justification our city fathers can offer for this project. The land swap and sweet deal certainly aren't economic development: we've only moved players around, not added any new ones. We're not increasing the tax rolls: ICAP is a non-profit. The only stretch by which we might offer an economic justification for this fire sale is that maybe, just maybe, ICAP was saying they were going to leave town if they didn't get this property cheap, and the LAIC and city thus acted to keep Madison from losing jobs.

Given this math from the city, we have a proposal. There is another derelict property in downtown Madison, the Masonic Temple, just crying for development. My wife and I and some friends are prepared to form a non-profit organization to acquire, renovate, and preserve the Masonic temple as a non-profit community cultural center hosting a wide variety of education, entertainment, tourism, and economic development projects.

The last purchase price for this architectural landmark was $46,000. If the LAIC and City of Madison would buy out the owner for that amount, then sell it to our non-profit group at a 66% loss... well, that's less than $16,000. I could line up that funding by the end of the month.

Arrange this Masonic temple buyout and transfer, city leaders, and you don't just keep jobs: you add cultural and economic activity where there currently is none. Essentially, arranging a deal analogous to the Rosebud-ICAP deal for the Masonic temple is a $30,000 investment that creates new economic activity. What say you, commissioners?

Madison Loses Tree; Masons Still Standing!

A moment, dear friends, for the passing of a tree:

On this glorious spring day, we lose one of our woody friends, the tree that stood by the northeast corner of the Masonic temple at the heart of our fair city. As part of the city's planned alley renovation, the Madison Arborcare crew was dispatched by our leaders to fell the tree.

It was not the biggest or oldest tree in town. It was a bit scraggly. Its branches grew too close to the east wall and roof.

But it was a tree... and I take the passing of no tree lightly. Take a tree down, plant a new one to replace it... I should go get a sapling or three, restore the cosmic balance.

Some small condolence: the opportunity to watch cool machines at work! Look at that crane—sitting down, pulling levers... that's sure not how Dad had me load wood when I was little!

More satisfying for all will be the replacement of all those overhead wires and the big poles and transformer with underground equipment. Our first downtown block will look a little cleaner.

Now if we could just shore up and spiff up that Masonic temple. Hmm... ;-)

Mochavino Opens Soon; My Wife Gets Scoop on Local Biz

Guess who's got the scoop on Madison's newest business? It's not the paid media—it's my lovely wife, Erin Heidelberger. She uses that Internet-thingy to interview Mochavino owner Jenny Bader online. Their conversation, plus some really cool links on third places and small-town economic development, appears on Erin's blog, Prairie Roots.

Erin gives us our first verbal look at what Mochavino will bring: new sandwich menu, breakfast sandwiches, coffee, wine, maybe even some of Shaun Bader's homebrew beer. Add live music, maybe organize Madison's first downtown poetry slam... I just might be spending more time downtown.

Jenny says they hope to open "just after the middle of March." Hey—middle of March is tomorrow at noon! Finish painting and open those doors, Jenny and Shaun!

Madison Notes: We Think More Taxes Are Fine

Our legislators may be balking at new taxes in the midst of a recession, but Madison's local leaders aren't:

• The Madison City Commission supports the Municipal League's effort to get the legislature to let cities impose another penny sales tax (you know, the kind of tax most likely to make it harder for working folks to eat). Evidently Madison thinks a new events center in Sioux Falls is a great reason to raise taxes... even though Madison is keeping prime property for a new Madison events center off the market for another year.
• Again cleverly burying a lead story, the Madison Central School Board got us all focused on its reversal of Vince Schaefer's "retirement," then passed a four-year, one-million-dollar opt-out and referred it to a public vote April 13. See—when Governor Rounds says he's zeroing the increase in education spending, he's not really zeroing the increase; he's just shifting the responsibility and political heat from his office to your local school boards. He knows taxes need to go up; he's just not willing to do it himself.
• No word yet on whether Lake County has found a good reason to support higher taxes, but hey! Now that we have a raving liberal on the Water Quality Committee, we'll probably pass a local income tax to turn the entire county into a riparian buffer zone. Ah, trees....
  

Top Ten Stories of 2010: A Madville Times Wishlist (Part I)

Senator Snowe doesn't want to dwell on history, so why not look ahead with hope and aspiration? Here are the top ten stories of 2010. Don't confuse these headlines with predictions—in three previous tries, I have yet to pick a winner... although that's never stopped me before! These are just the ten best stories I hope I'll get to report on the Madville Times in the bright, bouncy new year.

1

Highway 34 Four-Lane Campaign Buys Masons' Building: "Build it and they will come," said campaign organizer John Goeman of Four for the Future members' decision to buy the Madison landmark. "We're sick of begging for federal money to build more road to Madison. We're going build something to give people a reason to come to Madison." Goeman and his colleagues have formed a non-profit corporation and hired local carpenters and artists to turn the old Masonic temple into a cooperative coffee house, gallery, meeting hall, and movie theater.

2

TSA Officers Work Naked: "I wasn't trying to start a revolution," said Chicago airport security agent Ralph Jablonski. "I just tell this lady to step into the body scanner, and she says, 'You show me yours and I'll show you mine.' So I says o.k., I drop my pants, and the lady steps right into the scanner, no questions asked. Pretty soon everybody in the airport's droppin' their drawers." Jablonski's initiative was so effective at improving customer satisfaction and trust, President Obama soon mandated nudity for all TSA staff. This new government transparency has inspired passengers to fly naked and made security a breeze.

3

Fahrenwald Named MadChestRut Superintendent: Following the resignations of their superintendents, Madison and Chester school districts both realized they could get along without a superintendent. "We farmed out duties to the principals and business manager, and no one noticed a difference," said Madison board president Jay Niedert. Madison and Chester then pursued further cost savings by taking up an offer from the Rutland school district: the two school districts dissolved and merged with the Rutland School District. Rutland Superintendent Carl Fahrenwald will run the new district, which spans three-quarters of Lake County. Madison residents responded with cautious approval: "Maybe now we'll win some football games," said former coach Tom Milne.

4

Jason Bjorklund Places Third in County Commission Race: Local 9-12 Project activist Jason Bjorklund came within two votes of winning a Lake County Commission seat in the November 2 election. Bjorklund's third-place finish was the closest any Glenn Beck/Tea Party candidate came to actually winning elected office on any South Dakota ballot. "I love politics!" said Bjorklund, vowing to run again. "I just need to keep improving my public speaking skills. I also need to remember that real county politics are about fixing roads and hiring good cops, not banning the Federal Reserve and preaching Natural Law."

5

Heidepriem Names Munsterman Economic Development Czar: After a literally bruising gubernatorial race that saw primary season fistfights and independent challengers splintering the state Republican Party, Governor-Elect Scott Heidepriem announced the olive-branch appointment of his main challenger, Scott Munsterman, as state economic development czar. "Scott knows South Dakota's future depends on promoting growth through cooperation in our rural communities," said Heidepriem. "Plus, the economic portfolio will keep Scott away from his nutty fundagelical friends in the all-abortion-all-the-time crowd."

...read on: here's the second half of the Top Ten Stories of 2010!

Mo' from Rock Port MO: M.O. for Historic Preservation and Downtown Development

Atchison County Memorial Building, downtown Rock Port, MO

Reading up on Rock Port, Missouri, the first 100% wind-powered town in America, I happened upon the website for Rock Port's Atchison County Memorial Building. Built in 1921 in honor of World War I veterans, the building is a National Historic Landmark, says the website, but it is falling apart. Rather than see this impressive edifice crumble, locals have formed a non-profit foundation to restore the Memorial Building and protect its place as a cultural center for the community. The building still gets some use as a theater, and the Foundation wants to keep it going. The Foundation's goals include fixing up the building inside and out, installing a veterans museum and walk of honor, and establish an ongoing maintenance endowment.

The first phase, exterior renovation, is expected to cost $548,000. Subsequent phases will rack up another $1,750,000.

So Rock Port, town of 1300, looks at that big price tag, and do they say, "No way—we can't afford that"? Nope: they start fundraising. The Foundation has raised $200,000 so far, including a number of individuals and groups who have each kicked in more than $5000, and they are applying for various tax credits through the Neighborhood Assistance Program.

Masonic Temple,
downtown Madison, SD

So look at that building: impressive architecture, big columns, a unique building in the middle of town that everyone sees as they pass through. A building that can establish the identity of a the downtown area and the entire community. A solid old building that a community effort could restore to grandeur.

Sound familiar, Madisonites? Anyone getting any bright ideas?

Stockholm SD Gets Downtown Hotel and Café

Speaking of downtown development, Bernie Hunhoff over at South Dakota Magazine notes the restoration of the Stockholm Hotel and Café. Alex Thomspon and son Chris have apparently "come home from the city" to bring food and lodging to Main Street Stockholm, population 105.

Now if Stockholm—Stockholm!—can take a swing at a downtown hotel, so can Madison. The next thing on Madison's economic development agenda needs to be the resurrection of the Lake Park/General Beadle Hotel, not out in the industrial park, not out with the cows and tech center on the edge of town, but right smack dab in the heart of the city.

-------------------
An amusing postscript: According to Wikipedia, men in Stockholm, South Dakota, have a median income of $22,143. Stockholm women have a median income of $31,250. And apparently, there is no poverty in Stockholm. Go figure!

Campaign Promise Fulfilled: Madison Gets Main Street Flower Pots!

Cross-posted at RealMadison.org!

It's not a full downtown redevelopment program, but it is a fulfillment of city commissioner Karen Lembcke's campaign promise: Madison has new flower baskets on the lightpoles on Egan Avenue!

Lovely violet flowers on the 100 block North of Madison's Egan Avenue. Those downtown trees are just reaching full blossom. Keep pushing, little leaves! you can do it!

A closer view of those violet flowers, with Madison's most impressive Main Street façades in the sunny background. Oh, the possibilities....

The 200 block North gets pink flowers, which we see here catching heck from the wind. I think my gardening wife calls that "hardening off." It's good for the plants, really. You can be beautiful in South Dakota, but you still have to be tough.

Flowers at the "Four Corners" make even this sign a little easier to take. Maybe the flowers will distract the lawyers who otherwise might bring a trademark infringement case. Hey, wait a minute: what's that little package hanging off the flower pot?

The flowers are nice. I'll bet our economic development director Dwaine Chapel finally took my advice and brought a good idea to work with him from his home in Brookings. You know, Brookings, that nice college town that has downtown flower baskets and a downtown development organization.