Economic Development Authority Meeting Date: March 23, 2026
To: Members of the Economic Development Authority
From: Scott Wopata, Community Development Director
Emery John, Program Associate
Title
EDA February Retreat Recap
Body
Action Requested:
No action at this time.
Summary Report:
The EDA met on Monday, February 16th at St Olaf for an off site retreat. The group’s discussion focused on Chapter 4 of the Northfield 2045 Comprehensive Plan, “Sustainable Economic Future,” specifically on the strategies and actions associated with the EDA.
Additionally, staff clearly heard the desire for a communication plan for both EDA initiatives and business opportunities within the City, and will be incorporating that into future conversations regarding the EDA work plan.
Staff are also working on preparing some continuing education opportunities for EDA members to engage with and learn more about the tools that are locally and statutorily available to the body.
Central Themes
- Keep Northfield distinctive: ride our strengths to maintain vitality (Downtown, small businesses, college connections)
- Housing is central and the EDA will continue to prioritize housing related projects and partnerships
- Opportunities outside of the downtown and NW Area are underexplored/under communicated
The discussion focused on four strategies from Chapter 4, listed here, with key aspects of the discussion summarized. Other parts of Chapter 4 were discussed, but the EDA chose not to focus on them, instead, acknowledging partners to carry forward the work of affordable housing development and preservation and workforce training.
Strategy 1) Strengthen downtown core
Discussion focused on not wanting to take the downtown for granted, but rather, to continue to find ways to strengthen and support the district. The group also emphasized the importance of continuing to develop housing in and around the downtown. Additionally, interest in enhancing access through multimodal transportation was shared.
Strategy 2) Strengthen relationships with colleges
The group was energized by a discussion retaining young talent from the colleges and encouraging them to stay in Northfield. The group discussed adding additional actions to this strategy, including alumni engagement, employer engagement, and potential partnerships that this strategy’s actions would require.
Strategy 3) Supporting small businesses
The small business community in Northfield is essential to understanding the expansion opportunities that the EDA can help facilitate with its programming. Many Northfield enterprises were homegrown -- born here and encouraged to grow and stay rooted in the community. Fostering entrepreneurship will remain a focus of the upcoming financial assistance and work plan discussions.
Strategy 5) Tax base diversification
Discussion here focused on the balance and tradeoffs between “smokestack chasing” and fostering homegrown business expansions. Growing the tax base and tax base diversification are key aspects to not only the Northfield 2045 Plan, but also the current Strategic Plan. While the actions in Northfield 2045 are more focused on shovel ready recruitment, the group was more interested in growing our business community through assisting them in scaling up and staying local.
City Plans & Policies Relevance:
Northfield 2045, Chapter 4: Sustainable Economic Future
Alternative Options:
N/A
Financial Impacts:
N/A
Tentative Timelines:
February 23 - EDA Retreat
March 23 - EDA Meeting reviewing retreat topics
March 23 - EDA Meeting reviewing financial assistance matrix
April 27 - EDA to review drafted work plan, program alteration recommendations