It is a community that has shown steady growth in a part of the state that is losing residents to other population centers.

It is a community that people come back to for its "family friendly" quality of life.

And it's a community with one common thread: The Schwan Food Company.

Welcome to Marshall, Minnesota.

The Schwan Influence
What is The Schwan Food Company? Surely you've seen all of those Inca Gold (the color is trademarked) trucks in your neighborhood. Those trucks are in the 48 contiguous states. The cumulative miles driven by its fleet of trucks each day could circle the globe 29 times.

Red Baron, Tony's or Freschetta pizza? That is Schwan, too. And if your children had pizza today in school, chances are good it was made by Schwan, the world's largest producer of frozen pizza and egg rolls.

Schwan is also in 58 countries, and has a trio of manufacturing plants in Europe, where it is seeing "significant growth," maintains Howard Miller, company vice president for corporate relations.

While it's true Marshall is not a one-horse town, it is clear from the start who the Clydesdale is.

The Schwan Food Co. employs over 25,000 people and has its corporate headquarters in Marshall, along with some manufacturing facilities. It has a workforce of 2,400 in Marshall alone. It's an American success story, started in 1952 when company founder, the late Marvin Schwan, loaded 14 gallons of ice cream in a panel truck to sell to rural customers. It has grown to be one of the top three private companies in the state.

In its early years Schwan was a very quiet company in its philanthropic endeavors. That is not the case anymore. Today it's a much more visible company, one that wants to partner with other entities to solidify Marshall's presence as a regional center.

"The company can offer other things to the community in addition to jobs," feels Miller. "We collaborate with the community's leadership to create a vision and develop partnerships that will accelerate the community's recognition as the regional center of southwest Minnesota."

It has put its money where its mouth is.

"We have as a company identified a number of key areas that needed to be addressed," says Miller. "We partnered with the community in addressing those issues."

What are those areas? Amenities, for one.

The city, in its long-range planning, identified the lack of a community/recreation center as a key to future growth and prosperity. That, too, was a concern of the company.

Schwan offered a $5 million match to build such a facility, if the community came up with the other $5 million. A large fund-raising drive did just that, and a new $10 million YMCA opened this past summer.

"It is a wonderful structure and it was built without using a dime of taxpayer money," says Marshall Mayor Bob Byrnes. "That in itself is quite unusual."

Or how about education? Marshall School District residents voted to build a new $42 million high school this year. Schwan encouraged support by pledging $5 million to enhance athletic and performing arts facilities, and donated the 60 acres of land where the school will be built.

And then there's the airport. The Schwan Food Company has several jets that fly in and out of Marshall on any given day. The Southwest Minnesota Regional Airport in Marshall also houses the Red Baron Squadron, the Schwan fleet of bi-planes that performs at air shows throughout the country. Schwan, working with the city and state, helped build a new arrival/departure building.

Finally, there's housing.

Recently, the city teamed with non-profits and Schwan for the second phase of the Parkway Addition. Approximately 270 homes will be built over the next few years. Schwan gave $1.5 million to this project.

"It's a good example of the types of partnerships that have kept Marshall ahead of the game," feels Marshall City Administrator Mike Johnson. "These partnerships haven't been easy, but they've been productive. It's been a fun run in the kinds of things we have been doing in recent years."

A Thriving Community
Marshall is a community of 12,778. During any workday, its population swells to 22,000.

Where do the people come from? They commute from smaller towns in the area.

Lyon County (Marshall is the county seat) is projected to gain population over the next 20 years. Other counties in the region are expected to lose population, and have been.

Lyon County has the 10th-largest per-capita income in the state, outside of the seven-county Twin Cities area and the counties where St. Cloud and Rochester are located.

Marshall is not a tourist destination.

"We market to events," says Linda Erb, executive director of the Convention and Visitors Bureau. She ticks off examples - the Gold Wing motorcycle convention this summer; the national wheelchair basketball tournament next March; the state VFW baseball tournament in 2005; yearly youth basketball and baseball tournaments.

"We are an overnight headquarters," she notes. "You usually go to Marshall for a reason, for an event."

"Marshall has a diverse economy," says Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tracy Veglahn. "You can't ignore what The Schwan Food Company has done for this community, to be sure. But there are also thriving small businesses here, as well. It's really a nice mix."

Some of those small businesses have received help from Liz Struve, director of the Small Business Development Center. It's her job to help small businesses get off the ground, and to offer advice when times are hard.

The SBDC had 100 Lyon County clients over the past 20 months, and has helped 489 in the region in that time. The SBDC packaged over $14.6 million in approved loans during this time.

"A lot of what people come here for is marketing advice," she says proudly. "Also, banks often send clients to us, people who need a business plan."

A Deep Labor Pool at SMSU
The town's steady growth can be tied directly to two factors: expansion of The Schwan Food Company, and the opening of Southwest Minnesota State University in 1967.

It is 36 years old, the youngest of the seven state universities in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. It has been named the best college in its class for seven consecutive years by U.S. News and World Report magazine and has an enrollment of 3,500 students.

Like the rest of the community, there is steady growth associated with the college, and a lot of building.

A new $18.2 million Student Center Complex is under construction, and a $9.2 million library renovation has started as well.

"We have a large direct, and indirect, economic impact on the region," says SMSU President David Danahar. "We educate and train a significant portion of the workforce that live here. We are, in a lot of ways, a growth engine."

That economic impact of the university to the region was $60 million last year.

SMSU has roughly 12,500 alumni. Of those, 75 percent live in Minnesota. There are 900 alumni that call Marshall home.

SMSU alumni blanket the region and supply a talented, trained labor pool for the needs of business and industry.

Size Begets More Size
Marshall is home to both big and small businesses. Besides The Schwan Food Company, U.S. Bancorp and ADM are also billion-dollar business residents of the community.

U.S. Bancorp Business Equipment Finance Group used to be Lyon Financial, owned by Schwan. U.S. Bancorp purchased the businesses, and then put up a 75,000-square-foot building that employs 460 in the city's technology park. It bills, collects, and maintains over 100,000 contracts each month, and expansion is anticipated.

"When Schwan sold the old Lyon Financial to U.S. Bancorp, one of the stipulations was that the company stay in Marshall," says Mike Rizzo, president and CEO of the Marshall Bancorp business.

"From our perspective, Marshall is a great place to have a business. The workforce is extremely motivated and dedicated. And the city was very cooperative when we wanted to build. They have involved us from time to time, wanting our input, and we feel we are playing a role in the community," says Rizzo.

ADM recently purchased the former Minnesota Corn Processors plant. The Marshall plant produces ethanol and corn-based sweeteners, and is another major employment force in the community.

She gets a lot of Schwan traffic. Corporate headquarters is just two blocks away. She also has a coffee kiosk in the Schwan lunchroom.

She has a lot of drop-in traffic during the day. It's steady. "The downtown is alive," she feels. "I wouldn't want to be located anyplace else."

Knigge is a co-owner, and puts in a lot of hours. "We've had steady growth each year, and you have to give it all you've got. I learned that you have to do it yourself though," she says.

Steve Carlson, manager of the local Kmart store, is having a good year.

He's been in Marshall since the store opened in 1989. And while Kmart has closed about 800 of its 2,300 stores in recent years, his has stayed open. "We are considered lower volume, but we are profitable," he says. (Marshall also has a Shopko and Wal-Mart, and a Super Wal-Mart will be built in the near future.)

The average shopper at Kmart spends about $38 per visit, Carlson says, and is a mother with children. "After that, it's an older clientele. We have a very large pharmacy that does a lot of business."

The store's products are priced in the middle, and customers come from a 45-mile radius. "We've been stocking more higher-end merchandise, and our clientele has responded. They have a need for that."

Part-time help was hard to find three years ago. "We were all fighting each other for workers."—that's not the case today. "We have applications all the time now. We get most of our help from the college, or high school students."

Clothing stores come and go, but there's one constant in downtown Marshall: Mister Cool's Clothing.

Owner Joe Cool is a Marshall native and has seen the ups and downs of the business community over the years.

"Marshall doubles in size during the business day; that is what has made Marshall what it is today," he theorizes. "It's a much larger town during the day, because people come here to work."

His customers come from a 30-mile radius, and while retail is tougher than it used to be, he says, he can't complain.

"We used to have more lookers, but with time constraints, busy families, we now have people coming in knowing that they need something, and buying."

Minnesota has no clothing tax, which helps his business, he feels. "People go to Sioux Falls to shop, but they have tax there on clothing," he says.

Cool says that the locals support Marshall business. "Sure, you have things they can't find, but not many."

Investing in the Future
Dick Slieter is administrator and CEO of Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center, a municipal hospital that includes 49 beds, along with a skilled nursing facility and a home health agency. The hospital has a working agreement with Affiliated Community Medical Center, a clinic.

"We have good, strong health care here," he feels. The hospital has invested more than $24 million in construction and improvements over the past eight years.

"Good medical facilities are important to a regional center," he maintains.

Slieter wants to help grow the clinic, he says, as well as add more physicians and state-of-the-art technology.

"We aren't everything to everyone, but 85 percent of health care requirements can be handled (here)," he says.

Jeff Gunvalson, gas superintendent for Great Plains Natural Gas in Marshall and chair of the Industrial Development Committee of the Chamber, works to identify and recruit businesses to Marshall. He is also a member of the Marshall Industries Foundation, which has the power of the purse when it negotiates with potential businesses.

Marshall has a good blend of industries, but one no one can forget agriculture, he feels. "When the ag side is hurting we all see it," he says. "The Midwest hasn't been hurt quite as hard as the East and West coasts."

Corn and soybean fields surround Marshall, and when the farmers are happy, the business community is happy, says Gunvalson. A summer drought made the soybean harvest less than hoped for, but corn was surprisingly good, given the dry conditions heading into harvest.

"Look at the number of banks we have (seven) too," says Gunvalson. "Marshall is a good, healthy town."

He says the city has identified roughly 700 acres it has requested to be a part of the governor's Tax Free Zone initiative, and the city will know by the end of the year if that is accepted. "That will help draw businesses, or help others expand."

John DeCramer, vice president of engineering at BH Electronics, also sits on both boards.

His firm employs 100 and designs, manufactures and distributes high-frequency magnetic component assemblies for communication, instrumentation, medical, and other industries. BH sells its product all over the world.

DeCramer has been active, helping Marshall's technology broadband infrastructure. Marshall was a leader in that area a decade ago, one of the first non-Metro communities to not only recognize what high-speed capabilities can do for a business climate, but to act. "It's easier for communities our size to move in that direction than say, a Minneapolis," he said. "We were ahead of the curve, but other communities (Marshall's size) are catching up.

"The biggest problem we have now is that there isn't much space available for businesses, buildings that are 5,000 to 10,000 square feet," he says.

"I think the Tax Free Zone acres will help, if they are approved. And the amenities in the community help attract and retain productive workers. "

Survey work he has helped conduct point to "very self-sufficient and independent business owners here," he says.

DeCramer also feels a four-lane highway to Sioux Falls and the Twin Cities would help the region's businesses, too.

City Administrator Johnson says that being a growing regional center could also mean some additional costs. Infrastructure improvements and expansion will need to be made, and perhaps more employees for a community that hasn't increased its city staff in over a decade.

The city has annexed more than 700 acres in the last year to accommodate present and anticipated growth.

Marshall is a city with unique advantages, and unique challenges. It's also a city that has recognized, for some time, the art of partnering as it relates to improving the lives of its citizens.

"(Public-private partnerships) are a complex web. Our success this past year is due in large part to recognizing the fact that in order to reach our goals, partnerships are necessary," says Mayor Byrnes. "As far as being a regional center, we have no options. We need to be aggressive in all aspects of economic development, and in those things that affect economic development."