BLUE EARTH– Jessica Beyer and Tom Polich of the Region Nine Development Commission stopped by the Faribault County Board meeting on Tuesday to provide the commissioners with an update on the organization.

Beyer, the interim executive director of Region Nine, told the board that Region Nine is one of nine regional development commissions in the state.

“We represent nine counties, 33 school districts, 72 cities and 147 townships with a total population of just over 237,000 people,” Beyer said. “The Region Nine Development Commission was established in 1972 following Minnesota State legislation for Regional Development Districts.”

She shared the organization’s mission is to promote the development of the region through intergovernmental cooperation, community and human development, long-range planning and technical assistance.

“We have revolving loan funds and have used those funds to help a local Blue Earth business, Ryno Repair,” Beyer commented. “A lot of our work is grant writing and research. We want to work to strengthen our regional resilience and increase our access to federal funding. To better accomplish these things we have developed a comprehensive economic development strategy which identifies shared regional goals and objectives along with gaps in resources and expertise.”

Polich is the regional food rescue coordinator and spoke to the board about the food rescue program.

“Food rescue began with a planning process in 2023 and is funded jointly through the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) by the four offices covering south central Minnesota,” Polich explained. “The goal was to assess the current food rescue landscape and identify opportunities to rescue additional healthy food for communities in need.”

Polich stressed that this is food which is edible but is going to go to a landfill or compost site.

“One way this food could become available is because of over-orders,” Polich said. “Another way would be if a caterer had food ordered for an event and then the event was canceled.”

Polich reported that in the first year of the program there were 152 rescues totaling 125,519 pounds of food which led to $213,050 worth of saving to local food access partners such as food shelves.

“Our goal going forward is to continue to capture more food from ending up in landfills,” Polich concluded. “We also want to work to partner with additional food access partners throughout the region such as the Wells Area Food Shelf and the Faribault County Food Shelf. Finally, we want to bring awareness of food waste prevention to the community through education.”

In other business:

— The commissioners regretfully accepted the resignation of Central Services/Human Resources director Amanda Shoff.

— The board voted to approve the renewal of liquor licenses for the Golden Bubble and Riverside Town and Country Club for 2026.

— The board approved a gambling permit for the Fairmont Youth Hockey Association to operate at the Derby Bar and Grill.