The West Central Tribune reports on Scott McMahon, executive director of the Greater Minnesota Partnership, and his tour to Kandiyohi County to help listen to and lift up rural Minnesota…

On April 15, McMahon made a visit to the West Central Tribune’s office, following visits to the MinnWest Technology Campus and to area business and education leaders.

“I commend this community for how the whole tech campus happened. Not many communities could figure out how to repurpose a community asset like that,” McMahon said, referring to the transformation of the former state hospital campus in Willmar. “What you have done is remarkable.”

In 2022, as the region continues its post-pandemic recovery, the Greater Minnesota Partnership’s priorities mirror those of Willmar and Kandiyohi County — housing, child care and broadband.

He reminds the community and legislators that broadband is important (along with a few other items)…

With the state sitting on a budget surplus of $9 billion, McMahon hopes the Greater Minnesota Partnership can persuade lawmakers to spend some of that money on a variety of programs that could help answer some of these issues.

Examples include the Greater Minnesota Workforce Housing Development Fund to help build multi-family workforce housing; the Greater Minnesota Housing Public Infrastructure Grant program, which would help fund the construction of infrastructure such as utilities and roads for single-family housing developments; Greater Minnesota Child Care Facilities Capital Grant program for building and expanding child care facilities; and the state Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant program to help fund broadband improvements across the state.