By Sara Strong
After more than four years with the city of Luverne, Economic Development Authority director Tony Chladek is making a move up the career ladder as the new city administrator in Stewartville.
Chladek said he's proud of some accomplishments during his time here. He helped court Net Briefings to town, helped keep Jubilee Foods downtown and developed a storefront renovation program, among other things.
His move up is also a step back for Chladek, in a way, because he'll be about three hours closer to his hometown of West Concord.
He leaves Luverne with experiences that will help him in his new position, which also includes economic development.
Within his first month at the head of the Luverne EDA, IBP left town. Chladek was under pressure to help find a replacement business, which ended up being Gold'n Plump.
City Administrator Matt Hylen worked closely with Chladek. He said of Chladek, "Without Tony's assistance, Gold'n Plump might not have happened here. HeÕs the one who mailed out 400-plus letters to businesses in the meat industry."
Hylen said Chladek's knowledge in economics led the LEDA to consider drawing more smaller businesses with higher wages to Luverne. That's opposed to the former theory of big businesses with bulk amounts of jobs even though they often offer lower wages.
Even though Chladek's job dealt mostly with businesses, it wasn't the only aspect of Luverne he wanted to influence. "Connecting with kids was a positive thing I tried to do," Chladek said. "Making them interested in staying in Luverne is important."
He's been active in the School to Career group and helped start Family U, the after-school program for children.
In his work with businesses, which sometimes got controversial, he said, "I tried to find the right programs and did the best work I could for the community."
Large tax increment financing work got the most attention, but little projects, like the storefront renovations, made Chladek's work noticeable as well. Vander Kooi Law Office, Pizza Ranch, Main Street Financial and the former Schuur Concrete plant, which is now a vehicle sales business, were all impacted by that program.
Chladek said, "Probably what I liked the most was putting together programs that folks could really use. I tried to gear toward what the future of Luverne would really look like - probably smaller, service businesses that could have the opportunity to expand."
Chladek also started a business planning program called NXLevel that was taught through Community Education. He said he's happy that the program served several small business owners in the community.
Chladek also said, "I tried to be a part of organizations that would have a total community impact. I wanted to serve on committees that could change the community and keep the focus local."
Some of those are: Habitat for Humanity, Chairman of the Economic Development Professionals of Southwest Minnesota, School to Career Committee, Rock County Development Corporation, Luverne Community Economic Development Committee and the Telecommunications Committee.
ChladekÕs wife, Terri, has also been very active in Luverne. They have two children, ages 2 and 4.
Chladek said he looks forward to the challenges his new job will bring him starting May 1. Economic development and planning and zoning issues will be top priorities.
Stewartville, with a population of about 6,000, is just eight miles south of Rochester. Stewartville is seeing rapid growth in population and housing, but being so close to Rochester, is losing retail strength.
Chladek will also manage the city's employees. Stewartville has a smaller staff than Luverne because it contracts for many city services like police, sewer and electric.
Even though he looks forward to his new experiences and being closer to family, he said he enjoyed his work and life the four years he was in Luverne.