The Low~Down!

Featured City:

Shafer

Less than 6 miles from Wisconsin, Shafer hosts a trail head of the Swedish Immigrant Bike Trail segment that runs through the center of town. Shafer is a popular area for biking and walking. In this growing community there are brand-new residential developments with many homes! There is also land available along Highway 8 ideal for commercial development. Shafer Contracting Company is the largest employer within the city with about 275 employees. Shafer is a quiet community with an easy commute to the Twin Cities.

To view other available sites, please visit our website

Titan Lansing Property Rail Site: SOLD

If you are familiar with the North Branch area, you may have seen the frack sand drying and transloading facility just north of town on Co Rd 30. This property has been vacant for some time, but is now in the hands of Andersen Windows. You can read a full article from the Chisago County Press here.

Manufacturers Month Event

On October 13th, the Chisago County HRA-EDA hosted an event for students and businesses to celebrate and learn about manufacturing. Tours of manufacturing businesses were scheduled to allow students from four school districts to visit throughout the day.

One other stop added was a "Career Exploration Event" held in the banquet room of Splitrocks in Wyoming. This was an exciting and interactive place where the students were offered hands-on exploration of some of the manufacturing businesses in Chisago County. There were over 10 manufacturers and more than 200 students that passed through this event leaving with good information and contacts to assist them in planning for their future careers.

Highway 8 Strategic Framework:

OPEN HOUSE

An open house was held on September 28th at the library in Chisago City. The turnout was great with over 80 people joining the conversation!

HKGI, a planning consultant agency, was chosen to facilitate creating a strategic framework with cities along the corridor and county departments. Considerations included economic development, land use, road connections, bike trails and the environment based on the anticipated development opportunities around the road reconstruction. This Highway 8 Strategic Framework was meant to bring communities together and to plan ahead of the anticipated development due to the reconstruction of Hwy 8.

To view the information provided at the open house, please visit our webpage and scroll down to the "Events" tab.

Help us welcome the new Community Development Director for the City of North Branch.

Jason Ziemer is the Community Development Director for the City of North Branch. He brings nearly 15 years of local government experience to the community, specifically in planning, and economic and community development. Jason came to North Branch from the City of Rogers where he spent the past four-plus years as the City Planner and community development lead for the city. Jason has more than 10 years of experience in city management as the City Manager for the cities of North St. Paul and Maple Plain. His professional career also includes years served as a Public Information Officer for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and as a television news anchor and reporter. He has Masters Degrees in Public Administration and Management from Hamline University, and is completing his Doctorate in Public Administration.

Enjoy the fall season!

Issue: October 15, 2022