Area panelists, including Luwaina Al-Otaibi, Scott Marquardt, and Eric McVey talked about the economic challenges and opportunities facing southwest Minnesota during a Tuesday event in Marshall. Speakers at the “Minnesota 2030” event also included Doug Loon, president and CEO of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

MARSHALL — Southwest Minnesota faces some challenges to economic growth – including ongoing problems like a lack of access to housing and child care. However, speakers at a panel discussion Tuesday said the region also has important assets, like its workforce and communities.

“There is strong community support, stronger than I’ve seen in other places. People want things to work well. People are willing to put in their time to make it work well,” said Eric McVey, manager of the Archer Daniels Midland plant in Marshall.

Finding ways to grow and retain those communities would be one important part of spurring Minnesota’s economy, speakers said.

The Minnesota Chamber Foundation, together with the Southwest Initiative Foundation and the Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce held a discussion of Minnesota’s economy Tuesday at the Upper Room in Marshall. Speakers included Minnesota Chamber of Commerce president Doug Loon; Whitney Harvey, senior director of workforce diversity and inclusion at the Minnesota Chamber Foundation; and panelists from southwest Minnesota businesses and communities.

Loon said Minnesota currently has a developed, but slow-growing economy. Some of the hurdles to growth that the Minnesota Chamber has identified include the difficulties Minnesota’s permit process poses for business development, and a lack of workers coming to Minnesota.

In a panel discussion, area residents talked about possible ways communities can address workforce challenges.

Scott Marquardt, president of the Southwest Initiative Foundation, talked about some of the economic trends the foundation was seeing.

“Housing and child care are the top two reasons we get a call from a business or community leader that’s wondering about how they can attract and retain talent,” Marquardt said. However, he said there is also a lot of interest in investment in southwest Minnesota.

Marquardt said SWIF is currently seeing the highest loan deployment rate it’s ever had since 1986. But it’s not necessarily struggling businesses that are seeking loans, he said.

“These are startups, expansions and ownership successions,” he said. “So we’re trying to really look at that data and understand what it means to have unprecedented demand on money for all sizes of businesses, all sectors and in all stages.”

When Marshall received funds from the Minnesota Main Street Economic Revitalization program for the East College Drive corridor, there was more demand than there was cash available, Marquardt said.

“That tells me businesses a stone’s throw from here want to invest in their space and in their real estate, because they see a future that’s better than the present,” he said.

Another important trend in area communities including Willmar and Worthington is the growth of a more diverse population, he said.

“What are communities and organizations doing to support the families that are southwest Minnesotans by choice? We are seeing a significant influx of people who are choosing southwest Minnesota, that would rather live in a rural (area) than in the Twin Cities or Chicago or places like that,” he said.

Panelists Eric McVey and Luwaina Al-Otaibi said the strength of communities in the Marshall and Granite Falls areas were an asset for businesses and the arts.

Granite Falls residents, businesses and organizations all come together to support arts and social events, Al-Otaibi said.

“Seeing all that’s going on can be very attractive to people to come to the area, and we just love to be part of that movement,” she said.

Al-Otaibi is the program coordinator of the YES! House in Granite Falls.

“It’s a creative community gathering space, a multi-use space that is still in progress. And it’s owned and operated by the Department of Public Transformation, which is an arts nonprofit that supports the rural arts across the state, as well as on a national level,” she said.

McVey said the people in southwest Minnesota were an asset for ADM, but the concerning thing was that many young people leave the region.

“We have great career paths, we just have a challenge getting people to understand that,” McVey said. “So we’re putting in a lot of work with the community.” McVey said that included working with local high schools, as well as going to job and community fairs at area universities.

McVey said one key trend in the agriculture industry was that it has become more high-tech than a lot of people realize.

“You’re going to need all the tech, and all the resources and knowledge to compete going forward,” he said. At the same time, employers like ADM still needed employees who were able to communicate with others, show up on time, and other soft skills.

Marquardt said community partnerships were one way to help address problems like workforce, child care and housing shortages in southwest Minnesota.

Communities have found different ways to help develop their workforce. In Hutchinson, high school educators and local employers have partnered to give students hands-on career learning through the TigerPath Academies program. In Marshall, local businesses have put a lot of support into the creation of Marshall Public Schools’ Career and Technical Institute.

For other issues, like housing and child care, the narrative needed to change. Marquardt said child care wasn’t just a problem for individual families.

“It’s a community problem,” he said. “There are places the free market can’t fully solve or address the issue without public-private partnerships.”

Southwest Minnesota communities and businesses have also come up with their own ways to try and address child care needs, Marquardt said. In Lynd, D&G Excavating opened its own employer-sponsored daycare. In Hills, Minnesota, a city-owned building is offering “pods” for child care providers under one roof.

“We’ve got some really cool stuff in southwest Minnesota,” he said.