by April Scheinoha
Reporter

The Thief River Falls City Council received an update on Advance Thief River’s efforts at its meeting Tuesday, Sept. 3.

Michelle Landsverk, representing Advance Thief River, spoke about the Making It Home Program. The program seeks to entice more 25- to 45-year-olds to move here. “The overarching goal of these efforts is increasing the population of Thief River Falls,” she said.

The Making It Home Program has designed a landing page at www.wheretworiversmeet.com. Landsverk noted that people should bank on potential new residents researching prospective new cities online. The landing page also features housing information and photos of life in the area. The photos were taken by area residents as part of a contest sponsored by Advance Thief River.

Advance Thief River has also created the Two Rivers Angel Network to invest in local startup and emerging businesses.

Other efforts include the potential creation of a 1 Million Cups chapter to nurture and support entrepreneurs. Landsverk noted that the area would have to be approved to host a 1 Million Cups chapter. Each 1 Million Cups chapter meets Wednesdays at 9 a.m. Presenters are those who have been in business five years or less. If the area weren’t approved for such an endeavor, the group has agreed to start an independent, similar group on its own.

Advance Thief River is also working on an economic dashboard, which would help compare Thief River Falls to nine similar cities. Each city would then be ranked on such things as the cost of living, housing costs, employment rates, population growth and tax rates.

Landsverk noted there is often a mismatch between perception and reality. Having an economic dashboard would help local leaders realize where the area fits in terms of those factors.

The council approved appointing three council members to the Economic Development Workgroup. The council members are Jason Aarestad, Steve Narverud and Don Sollom. Other members of the group are Pennington County commissioners Cody Hempel and Neil Peterson.

The city and county decided to form the group to determine how economic development is proceeding in the area, especially after Advance Thief River requested $25,000 from both government groups and Jobs Inc. for its work.

The next council meeting is scheduled Tuesday, Sept. 17 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.