ABOVE: Congressman Brad Finstad, left, talks to Recovery in Motion’s Director of Outreach Zach Taylor during Finstad’s tour of their location in Fairmont on Thursday. Finstad said he looks to take what he learned to Washington D.C.

FAIRMONT – Congressman Brad Finstad started off his day on Thursday by touring Fairmont addiction treatment center Recovery in Motion.

Located at 1100 Indus Street, the treatment center opened at the end of 2024.

During the tour, Finstad asked about their occupancy levels. Director of Outreach Zach Taylor said they didn’t want to grow too quickly, so they’ve been operating below the maximum occupancy level. Finstad asked if there’s a waitlist, to which Taylor replied there isn’t one in the conventional sense.

“We know somebody is coming in on a specific date and time,” he said. “We know they’re on that for a slot. We haven’t had any specific, ‘Okay, you’re going to be waiting for two weeks.’ It comes and goes.”

Further room for expansion was showcased to Finstad during the tour, with a large backyard Taylor said residents enjoy using with the facility’s recovery dogs.

When Finstad heard about Recovery in Motion, he said it was important to him to see what they are doing and learn about their services.

“We knew they were a new organization in town, providing a much-needed service for our community,” he said.

As a Congressman, Finstad said it is important he takes all he can in on the issues affecting people in his backyard.

“How I can take what I learned to Washington to work on policy,” he said. “It’s just being present and trying to learn.”

After speaking with the Recovery in Motion team and touring the facility, Finstad said he could clearly see the passion from staff and owners.

“Helping our neighbors in need of recovery was something [their passion for] was crystal clear. They’re still in their growth mode. It was fun to hear of their vision and what they have planned for our communities, also to learn about how they interact with the local state, and federal government.”

There were some pieces of knowledge Finstad said he wasn’t expecting heading into the visit.

“The differences from county to county in regards to the intake of people coming to this facility,” he said. “A little bit around how there’s some ways government could do things better to make it easier, not just for the organizations that run homes like this, but those that are needing these services.”

After the Recovery in Motion visit, Finstad said he’d head to Jackson to talk to city officials about their recovery with FEMA after flooding events and make some stops along their main street.

The Congressman is also considering making a stop at some point to the Martin County Fair.

“I was at the Steele County Fair yesterday,” Finstad said. “That is the beauty of the first congressional district. We have 21 counties. We go from Wisconsin to South Dakota, and we have a lot of awesome county fairs. Martin County is one of the best.”