On Tuesday, March 8th, over 40 people gathered in Sunburg, MN (pop. 100) at their Community Center to participate in the West Central CERT Energy Networking & Priority Setting event.
After lunch and networking, the attendees heard a presentation from David Krueger, Executive Director, Meeker County Economic Development Agency, about the role that Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) can play for economic development and clean energy implementation. Next, Shelli-Kae Foster, Program Manager with the Youth Energy Summit (YES!) was joined by Samantha Gilbert and Mia Dahl, students from Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City’s YES! Team. They highlighted the program in general and the projects that the student leaders are currently working on (hint: LED parking lot lights with solar panels…Cool stuff!).
Presenters and attendees broke into groups to share resources and suggestions around topics including LED lighting, solar power and energy efficiency. “I’ll be redoing the roof on my hotel this summer, and I’m looking for information to see how I could add solar” said Gary Hendrickx, an Appleton business owner and Swift County Commissioner. People shared projects they were working on in their homes, farms, businesses and communities. John Paulson, Environmental Specialist with the city of Hutchinson, noted, “Minnesota GreenSteps Cities has been a great format for reaching our sustainability goals.”
“Today we had economic development professionals, environmentalists, utility representatives, university staff, business owners, renewable energy installers, students, and many others all gathered together to learn about ways they can identify and implement clean energy projects,” said Kristi Fernholz, WC CERT regional coordinator. “Our region has a deep bench of talent. People are feeling inspired and energized going into spring!”
Read fantastic news coverage of the event by Tom Cherveny with West Central Tribune >>
See photos from the event:
