photo by TaLeiza Calloway
Cynthia Smith-Strack, consulting director of the St. Joseph Economic Development Authority, talks about downtown development Nov. 16.

When Cynthia Smith-Strack isn’t gardening or reading a good book, she is pursuing business development or defining what she calls a nebulous term: economic development.

Smith-Strack has been the consulting director of the St. Joseph Economic Development Authority since August 2001. What the Arlington, Minn. native likes most about her job is learning from the different people she meets.

“I always think if I learn something today, no matter what it is … I’m still improving as a person,” she said.

She not only works with St. Joseph but also with cities that include Clearwater, Richmond, Cold Spring and Freeport. What she learns in one community can often help her in another, she said.

While she enjoys her work, there are some challenges. They include market changes, the establishment of clear goals and defining economic development – something she says is much more than a groundbreaking ceremony or a new business coming to town.

“(Economic development) sets the table for these things to happen,” she said. “It’s not an event. It’s a process.”

Table is set

The latest addition to the table is an EDA proposal for a demolition-grant program. Targeting business districts, the grant would allow for the removal of existing structures that are past their useful life to create a developable site.

“The goal is to create vacant developable lots in the central business district and along Highway 75,” Smith-Strack said. “One of the benefits to the city is it reduces impediments to redevelopment … and it’s also using existing infrastructure.”

The St. Joseph EDA has asked the St. Joseph City Council for $8,000 to fund the new program next year. The program would function as a matching reimbursement grant of 50 percent of actual demolition costs up to $2,000, Smith-Strack said.

Target areas are Minnesota Street, College Avenue, Hwy. 75 and a few blocks east or west of College Avenue.

There is a cost-saving component, and potential use includes opportunities to partner with the fire department to use sites for practice burns, for example.

Smith-Strack explained redevelopment is more expensive than starting with a vacant lot. For example, the owners of the proposed Cone Castle business paid about $16,000 in demolition costs that did not include grading work, she said.

Name: Cynthia Smith-Strack

Hometown: Arlington, Minn.

Family: Husband Terry. Twin sons Aaron and Jacob, 13

Fun unknown fact: She likes to drive tractor.
What she sees as St. Joseph’s strongest asset: Creative entrepreneurs.

“We have a diverse array of businesses and institutions. We don’t have all of our eggs in one basket.” 

St. Joseph City Administrator Judy Weyrens said the city paid about $6,000 in the form of a grant for asbestos abatement to assist Cone Castle earlier this year. Weyrens said that was the first time the city participated in the demolition process for a business.

Grant priorities of the proposal include projects that have been vacant for some time, have development potential and are close to existing sufficient public infrastructure, according to city documents. Ineligible properties are those that are tax-delinquent, special-assessment delinquent, tax-exempt or properties zoned for industrial use, according to city documents.

Four property owners have already expressed interest in the program, she said.

While the program is part of the preliminary 2012 budget, city council members are slated to vote on the final budget Dec. 15. If approved, the program will take effect Jan. 1.

“This is just another tool,” she said. “It’s a calculated investment to encourage redevelopment.”