Downtown McIntosh holds Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for multiple new businesses

BEMIDJI, MN - McIntosh is a community of around 600 people located between Bemidji and Crookston on US Highway #2. Many of the residents work outside the community as far away as Thief River Falls, Minnesota. On Friday, December 6th, the Northwest Minnesota Small Business Development Center (SBDC) hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony in downtown McIntosh at 3:30 PM to celebrate a number of new businesses opening their doors.

Andrea Stordahl moved to McIntosh two years ago, with her husband and two small children, and within the last year, purchased five of the six empty buildings located in the central block of the six block downtown business area. She moved her "Minnesota Rust" antique business into one of the stores and set out to revitalize the downtown area by remodeling the other four buildings and finding new business entrepreneurs to lease them. Within a short period of time she accomplished her goal and there are now four new businesses "open for business", with the last building, the Cafe, expected to open soon. The new businesses are:

 

• Minnesota Rust - Andrea Stordahl

• Howard Soap Company - Katherine Howard

• The Red Poppy -  Megan Palubicki 

• The Beauty Room - Ashley Thomas

• Breakfast and lunch cafe - Pending early 2020 opening

 

"Andrea accomplished this extraordinary goal of restoring the central downtown business block...in half the normal time it would take anyone else! I expect many other small town community leaders will be visiting McIntosh in the near future to discuss with Andrea how they could duplicate her success,” said Grant Oppegaard, SBDC consultant.

McIntosh welcomed the five new women owned businesses with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 3:30 PM and the “Very Merry McIntosh Christmas” event at 4:00 PM. The Christmas event included Christmas lights and a bonfire with s’mores for the kids.

The Northwest Minnesota SBDC is proud to offer business counsel and support services for entrepreneurs. The SBDC provides free information, confidential counseling and one-on-one support to start, build and grow a business. For more information, visit www.nwsbdc.org. 

The Northwest Minnesota Small Business Development Center is funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development and regional support partners.