ELY- Hearing news on Tuesday that Ely’s Head StaArt program may be eliminated, the Ely Economic Development Authority voted to send a letter of support for the program, noting that any loss of child care in Ely is an economic loss to Ely’s businesses. Indeed, providing more child care options in the community is one of EEDA’s business development priorities.
EEDA member Al Forsman moved that the EEDA send a support letter to the Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency, the organization that runs Ely’s Head Start program. “It just came to my attention today that the AEOA is considering suspending the Head Start program here in Ely … losing Head Start would be a big loss to our community.”
Mayor Heidi Omerza added, “There’s no other place for some of those students to go. And I think that is a really important point to make.”
Head Start is an early childhood education program for low-income preschool children, funded by state and federal money. Ely’s Head Start is run by AEOA and hosted at Washington Elementary School. Because Ely is a small community with limited child care facilities, the low-income preschoolers currently served by Head Start may have no affordable child care alternatives.
Corridor grants
Ely’s business development advisor John Fedo reported that the end of Ely’s Commercial Corridor loan program is June 30 and that $63,000 is still available for qualifying businesses. The program is for Ely businesses seeking to expand and add jobs.
“The money is in thirds,” Fedo explained. “A third is a loan from Ely at two percent interest. A third is the forgivable loan financed through the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board, which — if a business satisfies the job creation and retention parts of the loan — is really a grant. And a third has to be equity, which is to say, either provided by the owner or financed by the business.”
Five businesses currently have loans with the commercial corridor program, with amounts between $10,000 and $50,000.
Water supply
Ely Clerk-Treasurer Harold Langowski reported that U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber was working on reinstating the 15 earmarked projects which were cut earlier this year by the Trump administration, including $2 million in federal funding for the replacement of Ely’s five-mile-long water supply line from Burntside Lake.
“I sent all our stuff to Stauber’s office yesterday,” Langowski said. “There looks like there’s support to restore the 15 projects, so here’s hoping.”
The price tag on the water supply line project is $4.5 million. The city has already arranged financing and grants to cover the costs not covered by the congressional funding.