Greater Minnesota Business Development Public Infrastructure Grant. On behalf of the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities (CGMC), attorney/lobbyist J.D. Burton secured $8.5 million for the Greater Minnesota Business Development Public Infrastructure grant program, an economic development tool that helps outstate cities attract and retain local jobs by providing up to 50 percent of needed capital improvement costs. Burton’s efforts also helped protect the grant from an expansion to the metro area, which would have weakened the program’s impact.
Red River Flood Recovery. In addition to lobbying for CGMC, J.D. Burton helped secure nearly $22 million in bonding funds to help address infrastructure challenges related to on-going flood recovery in Moorhead and the Red River Valley.
Civic Centers. Working closely with Mankato area legislators, the City of Mankato, and the local chamber of commerce, Greater Mankato Growth, Inc., attorney/lobbyist Elizabeth Wefel helped secure $12 million for improvements and upgrades to the Mankato Civic Center. Likewise, attorney/lobbyist Bradley Peterson worked closely with the City of Rochester and its legislative delegation to secure $28 million for a major overhaul of the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester. This expansion would have significantly expanded the facility and positioned it to bring in high tech, bio-medical, and health related conferences from across the nation. In addition to traditional lobbying, Flaherty & Hood also helped the city develop a website to promote its efforts. Unfortunately both civic center projects—along with a similar project in St. Cloud and several other local government-sponsored projects—fell victim to the governor’s veto pen.
Parks and Trails. Along with advancing the city’s civic center project, Bradley Peterson also assisted the City of Rochester in securing $1 million for land acquisition for trail development to connect the city’s trail system with the state Douglas Trail. This funding was not vetoed and will be heading Rochester’s way to improve transportation and trail connectivity in the region.
