Partners
Crookston's Economic Development Authority
Crookston's EDA is vital in helping business and housing development. The EDA works in the following areas to make sure Empower Crookston creates entrepreneurial opportunities:
community and housing incentives
building and site selection
financing alternatives
training opportunities
business start-up, retention, expansion, and relocation
Karie Kirschbaum, the director of Community Development, is a founder of Empower Crookston.
Karie Kirschbaum – kkirschbaum@crookston.mn.us – (218) 280-3049
Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships
As a part of the University of Minnesota Extension, the Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships bring together community and University knowledge and resources to drive sustainability.
RSDP assists with local projects throughout Greater Minnesota with five regions. The five RSDP boards are comprised of community members and University faculty. The partnership operates through four focus areas:
Clean Energy
Community Resilience
Natural Resources
Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems
They support local projects through five regional boards made up of community members and University faculty and staff. They also support multi-region food systems work across Greater Minnesota and provide energy programming through the Clean Energy Resource Teams.
The director for Northwest RSDP is Shannon Stassen. He is one of the founding coordinators of Empower Crookston.
Shannon Stassen – sstassen@umn.edu – (218) 280-1347
Clean Energy Resource Teams
Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs), is a public-private partnership of four organizations in Minnesota, one of which is RSDP.
CERTs' mission is to connect individuals and communities in Minnesota to the resources they need to identify and implement community-based clean energy projects.
The Northwest CERTs coordinator is Anna Peterson, who is a founding member of Empower Crookston.
Anna Peterson – annap@umn.edu – (218) 280-8994
Fresh Energy
Based in Saint Paul, Fresh Energy is an organization that works with clean energy and equal access to its benefits. They are committed to creating communities where everyone can thrive by becoming connected with wind power, solar power, and innovative energy storage.
Fresh Energy has a team of scientists, economists, policy analysts, and educators to find solutions through clean energy.
John Vaughn, Fresh Energy's managing director of Community Development and Finance, is a founding member of Empower Crookston.
John Vaughn – vaughn@fresh-energy.org – (612) 408-7418
Otter Tail Power
Headquartered in Fergus Falls, Otter Tail Power Company provides energy services to Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. In addition to supplying energy powered by coal, OTP provides electricity generated through wind power, combustion turbines, solar power, and hydroelectric plants.
Aaron Sigette – asigette@otpco.com – (218) 739-8409