Council members fret about problem

Double-digit unemployment in Brainerd is weighing heavy on the minds of the people elected to oversee the city's welfare.

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At 17.1 percent unemployment in December, Brainerd ranked highest in the state among cities with a population of more than 10,000 people.

Brainerd's unemployment rate - at 17.1 percent in December - was the highest in the state for cities with a population of more than 10,000 people. Concern would be an understatement when Brainerd City Council members were asked for their reaction to 17.1 percent unemployment in the city. This was the view Wednesday in downtown Brainerd. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey

High unemployment could mean more houses going into foreclosure or being sold, fewer rentals being filled and people leaving the city altogether to look for work. Fewer residents means less taxes collected and fewer services.

The Brainerd City Council has had to wrestle with budgets and levies that maintain services while trying to keep local taxes low. The goal was to not add onto the burden of taxpayers already hurt by a weakened economy.

Coming Friday

HELP IS AVAILABLE | A look at the people behind the unemployment numbers and at resources available for job seekers.

Concern would be an understatement when council members are asked for their reaction to 17.1 percent unemployment in the city.

"My reaction is absolute horror. Just anguish, anguish," said council member Mary Koep. "It's heartbreaking to see that happening in this community, where I always think everybody would want to be here."

Council members Bonnie Cumberland and Kelly Bevans said they'd like to see a breakdown of the unemployment numbers - who chooses to be unemployed, whether home-based businesses are included and how many people aren't filing for unemployment.

"It's still a sad number," Cumberland said. "It's a huge number and it saddens me a lot to see a number that high."

The others offered similar sentiments:

• "It's very frustrating, I guess would be the word, that it's so high. It doesn't seem to be getting better. I'm very concerned with where that number is," Council President Kevin Goedker said.

• "It's a real difficult situation," said council member Bob Olson.

• "I, of course, think the unemployment rate is terrible. It's not a good thing for Brainerd," council member Anne Nelson Fisher said.

• "I think it's really unfortunate," said council member Lucy Nesheim.

Ask those same city council members what the city can, or should, do, and you get seven different answers.

Koep, as she has done in the past, said the city should hire a business head hunter to a one-year contract. She said it should be someone who has proven experience and background to make business contacts.

Koep relayed a story about her son-in-law, a design engineer in the Twin Cities who for years worked at a business that made pacemakers and defibrillators. When she asked if such a business would ever consider Brainerd, he told her that there was no reason they wouldn't. However, contacting the right people in charge would mean more than just e-mails, letters or phone calls.

"We need someone with ties to the head person, that has some way of getting eyeball to eyeball with that person," Koep said.

While she is supportive of the work the Brainerd Lakes Area Development Corp. is doing - and would want BLADC to work with a head hunter - she said for too long BLADC, some city staff and council members and others in the community have spurned such ideas in order to protect BLADC's turf.

"We aren't doing what we need to do," Koep said. "We're sitting here complacent. We need to concentrate on that employment. It grieves me we can't do that."

Nesheim, Bevans, Olson and Cumberland also supported BLADC's work. Cumberland agreed with Koep that more needs to be done, but didn't go so far as advocating a head hunter position.

"We may have a perfect fit for somebody and they just don't know what opportunities we have yet," Cumberland said. "I think we can really be cheerleaders ourselves, and cheerleaders for the people whose job is to get business up and going, and retain those businesses."

What the city also could do is support already existing businesses and promote what's already here, Bevans said.

"If you want to live and work in the heart of northern Minnesota's greatest lakes area, this is it. It doesn't get any better than this. That type of attitude helps retailers, resorters, professionals - all of us. It's something you have to really work on, continuously and not be discouraged," Bevans said. "We need to continuously promote, be self-promoters. All of us, not just council members."

To say the city is doing nothing is wrong, Bevans said, as the city is always working toward encouraging development and in his tenure has not denied a business from locating in the city.

It's important to remember, Bevans said, that even if the city had an ability to "open its checkbook" for every business that wanted to come to Brainerd, it might not be a wise decision.

"There's a difference in starting a business and having a successful business, take it from somebody who has crashed and burned," Bevans said, referring to his own financial struggles when he owned Brainerd Mobil, which is now Mid-Town SuperAmerica.

"Sometimes when you try to do stuff with government it doesn't work so well," Bevans said. "We need to be cognizant of that. Government is not necessarily the fix for everything and sometimes it can make it worse."

Several council members pointed to city-initiated projects - street repairs and reconstruction, utility repairs, the construction of the new wastewater treatment facility - as one way the city has helped create jobs.

"Those kinds of developments put people to work and improve the infrastructure of the community," Nesheim said. "I think we're doing as much as we possibly can do in this type of economy."

While the city needs to tighten its financial belt until the economy improves, Olson also said the city cannot let infrastructure deteriorate.

"It's a Catch-22," Olson said. "But taking care of our streets, our infrastructure, will add jobs."

While city projects have meant jobs, Fisher said the city needs to be judicious when planning such projects because money needs to be borrowed to pay for them.

Fisher said better education leads to higher-paying jobs. Also, she said the city could look at micro-loans, where an entrepreneur can get a small loan from the city, similar to the existing revolving loan fund.

"For many years, Brainerd's unemployment rate has been higher than the national average. We kind of have a chronic situation," Fisher said. "I think it's clearly something we need to look at."

All the of the council members supported tax subsidies if the project fits.

"It does hurt to give it up initially, but that's part of local government," Cumberland said. "You don't necessarily just put Band-Aids on things that are not working right now. You want to get those things operating, too, and part of the reason we're elected is to plan for the future as well."

Goedker also said the city needs to look to the future, not just to the immediate impact of tax subsidies such as tax-increment financing or JOBZ zones.

"If we can do things to entice businesses to locate here, or startup here, maybe there's a financial loss to us initially but if in the long run there can be more jobs that's something we'd have to consider," Goedker said.

"With the economy right now it's obviously tougher for businesses to compete. If they can't make a profit, obviously that makes it difficult for them to have employees at all or to hire more employees. If there's some way to give them an incentive to help them improve their bottom line, then they're healthier in the long run and there's the potential to offer steady employment."

Goedker said unemployment issues will be discussed at the council's annual retreat at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Brainerd City Hall.

MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.