|
|
|
The wheels are in motion on a plan to have University of Minnesota Extension move from its "Regional Center" office in UMC's Owen Hall into Valley Technology Park.
Updating the CHEDA Board of Directors Thursday, CHEDA Executive Director Craig Hoiseth said Extension would be a "primary" tenant as part of his new, three-tiered tenant system at the business incubator, which means the agency would sign a long-term lease that's several years in length and would provide a steady revenue stream to help VTP cash-flow, while the facility utilizes its remaining space to house and incubate fledgling entrepreneurial endeavors.
"They're looking for a long-term scenario here," Hoiseth said, adding that approximately a dozen people work at the Extension Regional Office in Crookston.
Extension would join relatively new, primary tenant North Country Food Bank at VTP, which means more than half of the facility would be dedicated to primary tenants. But with Hoiseth working on a plan to move NCFB to a more ideal location in Crookston (more on that next week in the Times), he anticipates NCFB to be out of VTP within the next year or so.
"Extension has looked around at other possible locations, but nothing fits their strategy better than this place," Hoiseth said. "When the University is clamoring for us to form a strategic alliance, I really perk up and listen to that. I want to accommodate them in any way we can. ...This is a very pleasing development from the CHEDA and city point of view. To get a partnership with them is a great step for us."
Deb Zak, director of the Extension Regional Office, said being housed at VTP makes sense for many reasons, mostly because it will keep the center in close proximity to campus and the University's many partners, but also let Extension raise its profile. "The Valley Technology Park location will keep us in the campus neighborhood while providing us with more visibility and access for the general public visiting the Regional Office," she told the Times.
A U of M real estate representative is expected to visit Crookston next month to start hashing out a long-term lease, Hoiseth told board members. "They're talking about putting a sign out front to give them more of an identity, where the University folks as well as the public can find them. Right now, it's not the greatest environment for them over there."
He didn't rule out Extension putting forth a capital-improvement plan to make their space in VTP "a state of the art facility that they would be glad to call home" for a long time. Hoiseth said the costs for such improvements could potentially be built into the lease.
The wheels are in motion on a plan to have University of Minnesota Extension move from its "Regional Center" office in UMC's Owen Hall into Valley Technology Park.
Updating the CHEDA Board of Directors Thursday, CHEDA Executive Director Craig Hoiseth said Extension would be a "primary" tenant as part of his new, three-tiered tenant system at the business incubator, which means the agency would sign a long-term lease that's several years in length and would provide a steady revenue stream to help VTP cash-flow, while the facility utilizes its remaining space to house and incubate fledgling entrepreneurial endeavors.
"They're looking for a long-term scenario here," Hoiseth said, adding that approximately a dozen people work at the Extension Regional Office in Crookston.
Extension would join relatively new, primary tenant North Country Food Bank at VTP, which means more than half of the facility would be dedicated to primary tenants. But with Hoiseth working on a plan to move NCFB to a more ideal location in Crookston (more on that next week in the Times), he anticipates NCFB to be out of VTP within the next year or so.
"Extension has looked around at other possible locations, but nothing fits their strategy better than this place," Hoiseth said. "When the University is clamoring for us to form a strategic alliance, I really perk up and listen to that. I want to accommodate them in any way we can. ...This is a very pleasing development from the CHEDA and city point of view. To get a partnership with them is a great step for us."
Deb Zak, director of the Extension Regional Office, said being housed at VTP makes sense for many reasons, mostly because it will keep the center in close proximity to campus and the University's many partners, but also let Extension raise its profile. "The Valley Technology Park location will keep us in the campus neighborhood while providing us with more visibility and access for the general public visiting the Regional Office," she told the Times.
A U of M real estate representative is expected to visit Crookston next month to start hashing out a long-term lease, Hoiseth told board members. "They're talking about putting a sign out front to give them more of an identity, where the University folks as well as the public can find them. Right now, it's not the greatest environment for them over there."
He didn't rule out Extension putting forth a capital-improvement plan to make their space in VTP "a state of the art facility that they would be glad to call home" for a long time. Hoiseth said the costs for such improvements could potentially be built into the lease.
