Feb. 16—WILLMAR

— Willmar business leaders showcased development in the city during a recent tour for

Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development

staff.

The Willmar Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with

Kandiyohi County Economic Development

, hosted guests from the state agency, including Commissioner Matt Varilek.

The Feb. 2 tour highlighted business, housing and recreation in Willmar.

“This was an opportunity for us to welcome Commissioner Varilek into the community and show him some of the things that are going on. We thought it was a great chance to talk about obviously our large turkey industry,”

Willmar Lakes Area Chamber

President James Miller said.

The tour among other stops included Robbins Island Park and the Block 25 Lofts apartments in the city and the new location outside Willmar for poultry hatching businesses Headstart Hatching and Next Nest Hatching. During the tour, local officials sought to highlight all of the ways that Willmar has been growing as a community, not just the economic development.

“The turkey industry has been such a vital part of our community forever. It is just a huge piece of it. To be able to highlight that, plus some of the other things … like housing,” Miller said. “It is nice to be able to toot our horn a bit while they are in town.”

Kandiyohi County Economic Development Executive Director Aaron Backman said presenting the community and its developments to DEED helps the department better understand how its decisions affect areas like Willmar.

“DEED has assisted us with several grants over the years for infrastructure projects. In some sense it is a validation that what you invested in made a difference … we have several instances of those,” Backman said.

The community’s progress was also highlighted in a discussion after the tour. The diversity of Willmar was brought up and the ways in which the local government, organizations and businesses interact to promote growth was commended.

“I think we are making progress. During the pandemic we assisted over 300 businesses, and that was a collaborative effort with the city and the county,” Backman said during the discussion.

American Rescue Plan Act pandemic relief funds flowed through the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission to businesses and nonprofits, Backman said, and 20% of those were diverse businesses.