The Development Association is celebrating its 65th year, helmed by the steadfast leadership of Jim Caesar, the D.A.’s longest-tenured Executive Director. As a nonprofit organization, the Development Association’s accomplishments are many, as are its failures.
Its role is to develop, encourage, expand and support business development in Superior and Douglas County, and it’s easy to see why the Development Association has been so successful.
It reaches this milestone as an incredibly well-run and respected organization. They have stayed true to their mission and goals and are a vital part of Superior’s economic development engine. Caesar doesn’t spend much time looking back. He’s focused on the future, pursuing a long-time dream while facing the coming impacts of the Blatnik Bridge closure.
What he wonders is, why doesn’t everybody know who we are?
“If you look at the amount of new businesses that we’ve actually had in the buildings, the housing units that have been built, the restaurants, I think you’ll see that Superior is a rising community, and we have some amazing businesses that are working here and are trying to come here,” says Douglas County Board Chair Mark Liebaert. “If half of the businesses that are on course right now to show up here from out of state show up, you will be amazed.”
Driven by lower taxes, short commutes, a solid infrastructure and – something for the locals to cheer – a better sales tax than neighboring Duluth. Superior is seeing an upswing in business development.
“Some of the regulations that businesses are facing in Minnesota are putting them at a disadvantage. I think they recognize that Superior is promoting them instead of coming up with things that make it harder to do business,” Liebaert said. “Douglas County and the City of Superior seem to be trying to make it easier for businesses to come here, and I think businesses are recognizing that.”
They’ve been following the same mantra since they opened their doors at the end of 1960 when business leaders in the Twin Ports were bursting with optimism. Nationally, the mid-1950s saw the end of the Korean War, and the expansion of an interstate highway system. Locally, the coming of the St. Lawrence Seaway, the refinery and the planned Duluth-Superior High Bridge created optimism. To that end, the idea of an organization dedicated to bringing in and assisting existing business was floated to capitalize on this resurgence.
Alan Jaques, President of the Development Association and Vice-Chair of the Douglas County Board of Supervisors, reflected on the start of the organization in 1960.
“I think where the Development Association came about, if I remember my dad telling me correctly, is back in the ’60s, Superior had seen a sharp decline after World War Two and the Korean War; all those ships were made, a lot of that stuff, the factories were shutting down. The oil refinery was just starting to get going, so there was a need to try to drive more business this way,” said Jaques. “That’s how a bunch of guys got together and did a gentleman’s agreement to throw some money into a kitty and hire an executive director to hopefully advocate for them at the city and at the state level to try to bring other businesses to the community. I think it’s worked. We’ve had some years that we weren’t able to drive anything this way, but I think in the years past, we’ve had some good successes.”
In the first month of its existence, Mayor Lawrence M. Hagen praised the organization for its dedicated work. “From this basic essential, the citizens of this area can with confidence support the Superior-Douglas County Development Association in the resurgence toward economic development. Within the framework of this endeavor, the very rare and vital quality – innovation – will be constantly needed. We must learn more about how to discover and develop it.”
The mission of the Development Association and their goals have changed little from day one. From the Articles of Incorporation, signed by city attorney Toby Marcovich and John Chisolm on Dec. 20, 1960:
Article 3. The purposes shall be exclusively for the civic betterment and development of the City of Superior and Douglas County; for the development of natural resources within the County; the fostering and expansion of existing industries and commercial enterprises; and in cooperation with state and federal agencies, the continuing expansion of resort and recreational possibilities of the county; the establishment of a civic and economic climate that will encourage and attract new industries; and to do all things necessary to participate actively and aggressively in all matters pertaining to the social, economic and industrial welfare of the City of Superior and Douglas County.
Pursuing its agenda, the groundwork for success was laid early on to bring large business to Superior. They also met with some setbacks. An early emphasis of the SDCDA was the purchase of a large tract of land for the creation of an industrial district. Plans were revealed for the district on Tower Avenue, opposite municipal airport reserve area, north of Tri-State Fair Grounds parking lot on west side of Tower Avenue.
The plans eventually fell through because the property is not connected to the city sewer and water system and remains one of the largest undeveloped tracts of land within the City of Superior.
By the mid-60s the efforts of the Development Association to lure larger industry to Superior and develop Connor’s Point were drawing the attention of companies like Superior Steel Supply and Superior Fiber Products, Inc. The D.A. was also leaning into a pivotal role by facilitating the administration of federal Economic Development Administration monies.
Guiding Growth:
Strengthening Our Region
Most organizations have a hall of fame of sorts, a display of their successes. You’d see a lot of familiar names on a list for the Development Association, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. There are probably many more failures than successes in the past 65 years, and that’s okay.
“The biggest failure we had was the Kestrel project,” recalled Mark Liebaert, “… when the city lost $2 million and the county lost $500,000, but the chance to have 1,000 high-paying jobs in the City of Superior and Douglas County was too good not to try to obtain. So we invested in that. Hands down, the biggest success is the partnership in the Superior Business Center building on Hammond and Eighth Street.”
The Superior Business Center (SBC) has been successful since it first opened in November 1995. “I don’t know where the idea came from, but we wanted an incubation center,” recalled Joe Till, former Board President (1972, 1998-2000) who was involved in the creation of the incubator. “I don’t know if any of these things were original ideas. Probably incubation centers were started in different cities or different localities, and we decided that one way to help start-up businesses was to have a center where they could begin their operations at reasonable, very reasonable, rent and whatever benefits we could offer, including counseling of some kind.”
Charlie Glazman had just arrived in Superior in 1998 when he took the position as Executive Director of the SBC, led at the time by Heidi Timm-Bijold. Glazman served in that position for approximately three years until a shift in direction brought the SBC under the direct management of the Development Association.
“It was decided that the Development Association was more aligned to facilitate management of the building as they were intimately involved with the starting of new businesses,” said Glazman.
Regardless of who was running it, the Superior Business Center remains one of the cornerstones of the Development Association business model.
Glazman seemed genuinely surprised when he recalled some of the early businesses at the SBC. “Gosh, you know, we graduated Northern Waters Smokehaus out of the Superior Business Center. We facilitated a little business called Genesis Equipment that located there while they were building their facility out on Connor’s Point. We had a number of other businesses since then have graduated out of the facility.”
A Superior Revival
The Development Association follows a four-step plan on how they support growth for Superior and its members. They do this by focusing on business creation, business recruitment, expansion and retention, regional leadership and fiscal sustainability.
To that end, today’s mission is rooted in the founding spirit of the Development Association:
The Development Association champions business growth, creation, recruitment and retention, in the City of Superior and Douglas County, Wisconsin. Through the support of its members, it encourages entrepreneurship and assists business start-ups, while identifying the needs, threats and opportunities facing existing businesses.
Development Association member benefits include one-on-one guidance from industry specialists, connections to more than 150 local businesses and partnerships with government and industry leaders, and access to programs like the DC Revolving and DA Loan Funds.
The Development Association operates three Business Development Centers, “providing the space, support and community early-stage businesses need to grow and become self-sustaining. The most recent acquisition is the historic U.S. Post Office and Federal Courthouse building at 1401 Tower Ave. The other development centers are on Hughitt Avenue and on Eighth Street.
Keep an eye out for some upcoming rebranding; the Development Association’s Superior Business Center locations will soon be called The Developmental Centers.
Among the recent Development Association accomplishments are: Uffda Kombucha’s move to a new building, Fox & Fireflies Book’s expansion at the Development Center, Love Creamery opening their flagship scoop shop in Billings Park, and an economic impact study conducted about the replacement of the Blatnik Bridge.
Throughout its 65 years, the Development Association has partnered in one way or another with nearly every civic and governmental entity in the city. A bright spot in the relationship between the D. A. and Douglas County is the management of the Douglas County Revolving Loan Fund, continuing a long-standing tradition of cooperation between the D.A. and Douglas County.
“We have a loan program where the Development Association brings loan applicants to us. Douglas County has money invested in there,” said County Board Chair Liebaert. “We work hand in hand with the Development Association. The Development Association takes the applicants, helps promote them, as they’re doing their business promotion. It’s one of the tools they use to help them be successful.”
Updating a Strong Tradition
In 1999, the Board of Directors agreed upon a change in the name of the organization. Out was the lengthy Superior-Douglas County Development Association, replaced with the abbreviated Development Association, Inc. Administrative Assistant Michelle Johnsen made the milestone announcement, stating, “Just because an organization, such as ours, takes on a new face every 3-5 years, does not suggest that we have changed our general focus, which is to retain, expand and create new business and industry. We continue to strive to meet the needs of the community.”
Few organizations, fewer nonprofits, make it as long as we have, reflected Glazman on his years with the D.A. “I’m very proud of the fact that we’ve been able to transition through a number of different economies. We’ve gone through recessions, we’ve gone through the internet bubbles, all these different things, and the D.A. still is a very vibrant, important and I think essential organization in the economic development of the city and the county. It’s been the lead agency for the past 65 years, and hopefully it will continue for the next 65 because they’re doing it.”
Board president Jaques agrees, 65 years is a milestone to celebrate.
“Sixty-five years running strong is good. It tells us that we’re doing something right, and that the community wants us,” reflects Jaques. “We go out actively looking for more membership, and we get it. People are willing to pay the membership dues because they see the returns that they get in it. It’s hard to quantify, but when you start seeing more businesses show up and they want to be in this community, we think it works well, and that model has been working well for 65 years for us. It’s the dedication. It’s the partnership; it’s not just the Development Association doing business by themselves.”
As for Jim Caesar’s dream? He wants to build a mid-sized visitor’s convention center and event space campus somewhere in Superior. He has a few places in mind and has held the belief for years that they would draw well from downstate for business, as well as for many of the local industries who could have a space for holiday parties, trade shows and community events.
Have dreams of your own? The Development Association is ready to help.
Patrick Lapinski is a freelance wrier who grew up in Superior.
