Franken gets an earful about Brainerd's problems
Brainerd's high unemployment numbers were the focus of a fast-paced roundtable discussion led by Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn.
Speaking Wednesday at Central Lakes College's Business and Industry Center, the senator was mindful of Brainerd's 13.6 percent unemployment and its school district's struggles since an operating levy referendum failed in 2007.
Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn. (left), talked with Brainerd area officials about the region's high unemployment numbers Wednesday at Central Lakes College's Business and Industry Center.
Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
"Brainerd has been having lots of problems," he said.
The teacher layoffs that followed the referendum's failure posed a "real challenge to the school system" Franken said, and now that the economy has sunk the jobless rate is the latest crisis.
"This is the highest unemployment in the state," Franken said. "Thirteen point six percent is too high."
He said the Recovery Act had brought money to help school districts keep teachers on the payrolls. He said he's voted for every unemployment extension that came before the Senate because he realized those benefits were a lifeline to people who were trying to keep their homes.
"This is the worst long-term unemployment we've had," Franken said.
Mayor James Wallin, who opened the meeting, pointed out Tuesday's Brainerd Dispatch headlines of the new unemployment numbers and noted those
figures were an improvement from earlier figures of more than 20 percent.
Craig Nathan, area manager for Rural Minnesota Concentrated Employment Program at the Workforce Center, said the area's legacy industries with higher paying jobs, such as the former Potlatch plant and the Weyerhaeuser plant in Deerwood, were no more.
"Those industries are gone," he said.
What's needed, Nathan said, is job creation.
"Tourism is good but it does not create a lot of high wage jobs," Franken agreed.
Franken also noted training for high paying jobs is not enough.
"Those jobs have to exist," he said.
Kathy Gaalsywk, Initiative Foundation president, said the Brainerd lakes area does a good job of plotting strategy for economic problems.
"There do need to be strategies," she said. "There needs to be flexible capital."
Franken said, in his view, the focus of funding from Washington should be education, infrastructure and research and development. He said he wanted to hear what ideas were being talked about in the Brainerd area.
The senator credited the Stimulus Act with helping local and state government programs to keep necessary programs going.
"I worry about deficits," he said. "I worry about long-term deficits. Now is the time to invest in the right things. There's danger in spiraling down."
He regretted the federal government hasn't done more.
"We have done things in Congress," he said. "I'd love to have done more."
The first-term Democrat said he was trying to help a pass a small business jobs bill that would provide $30 million for community banks.
John Gunstad, representing the Brainerd Lakes Area Development Corp., said his organization tries to retain existing business and attract new ones. He voiced a comment that Franken later said he had heard in other communities - that even small businesses with solid gold credit ratings have difficulty getting loans.
Franken said that Wall Street took huge risks and took everybody down with them and small businesses that have been pillars of communities were paying the price.
"It's a crazy equivalency," Franken said.
Rebecca Best, dean of workforce, economic and regional development at CLC, said businesses she knew of with stellar credit had been turned down for a Small Business Administration loan package.
She said Brainerd area businesses and organizations have co-designed projects to promote business. The Brainerd Lakes Chamber has been a force behind Bridges Career Academy, which is designed to drive education-readiness to high skill/high paying jobs.
"A key component is collaboration," she said.
Chuck Albrecht of Mid-Minnesota Federal Credit Union said there is liquidity in banks but they need to figure out how to release that liquidity in a safe manner. Many bank examiners, he said, are worried about concentration of risk or having too much money in one area, but have no specific guidelines to help financial institutions make decisions.
"The banks themselves have become more gun shy," he said.
"I'll know it when I see it - is that what they're saying?" Franken asked.
Dale Benson of Brainerd Lakes Health said the health care provider has concerns about its high percentage of Medicare and Medicaid patients and the challenge to deliver services to those patients while remaining competitive with three critical access hospitals within 30 miles. He said St. Cloud and Twin Cities hospitals receive a higher rate of reimbursement for their patients.
After about 45 minutes Wallin explained that Franken had to leave for scheduled visit in Camp Ripley. Earlier in the day Franken had been in Wadena where he had planned to discuss that community's tornado recovery efforts.