2024 Year in Review: Business and agriculture bring new ideas to west central Minnesota

WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA

— From indoor golf and arcade games to state-of-the-art medical technology, businesses are offering expansions and upgrades across Willmar and surrounding communities.

In order to address the need for halal meats in Minnesota and across the country, Clean Chickens and Company has begun the construction of a new $3.5 million halal meat processing facility called Happy Halal. This facility will process halal goat and lamb meats in the Willmar Industrial Park.

“We are looking to do about 50-50 goat and sheep and it might end up being a little bit different as the goat production increases,” said Rebecca Wierschke, the president of Clean Chickens and Company.

The facility has been in the works for more than a year, and is expected to create 18 new jobs. A groundbreaking ceremony took place Sept. 18, 2024, in the industrial park.

Willmar Indoor Golf opened its doors to the public in January.

The new business located inside Uptown Willmar started as an idea shared between Nate Erickson and Alex Malmgren, two co-owners of the business.

“It started off with just a couple buddies having beer and going ‘man wouldn’t it be cool.’ Then we started thinking more about it and realized we could pull something off,” Malmgren said. “Both of us were looking for a change in career and thought that if we were going to change careers, let’s make it something we want to be doing.”

While the name is Willmar Indoor Golf, the business offers much more. Alongside the six indoor golf simulators using Uneekor GSPro technology, guests will find batting cages, cornhole, private space and a lounge area to watch live sports and enjoy food and drink

Macy Moore / West Central Tribune

Minnesota has been home to beekeepers for generations. Apiaries have helped to provide Minnesotans with local honey, among other products, as honey is far from the only thing these busy bees provide.

The beekeeping industry peaked in Minnesota in the 1960s, according to Ames Farm owner Brian Fredrickson, who started his Delano business in 1994. Since then, natural habitats for bees and other pollinators have disappeared rapidly, leaving parts of Minnesota with a severe lack.

“I was born 1960; I remember how many different butterflies and native pollinators we had,” Fredrickson said. “Anyone in their 20s or younger would have no memory of the pollinators we used to have. Most pollinators are gone because the habitat is gone. Another legislative session has changed nothing. We need local landowners to plant things for the pollinators.”

According to Fredrickson, one of the best things that people can do is use their land to plant native wildflowers, basswood and other prairie plants to help re-establish habitats for pollinators.

Macy Moore / West Central Tribune

Having a place to go outside the home where you can meet people is important, especially for children.

“Without more places to go, people don’t have a reason to leave the house, get away from their gaming systems, to get off the couch. Or they find themselves in situations where they are just alone at home,” Blanca Ferguson, co-owner of The Olivia Corncade, said in a summer interview.

“With everything that happened with COVID and everyone being alone so much, those meeting spaces where you can meet people are important,” she continued. “Whether it is kids meeting kids or not, all singles want to go to the bar to meet people. Adults can come here and meet other adults. It is just a meeting place.”

When the arcade was first opened, the Fergusons were opening a print shop, but the building they were in had two spaces. Wanting to fill the space, and wanting to give the youth of Olivia a place to be, the Corncade was opened in June of 2022.

Contributed / Centracare

WILLMAR — CentraCare is keeping up with advances in medical technology, and the proof is in the pudding. In this case, the pudding takes the form of a new linear accelerator, with its first treatments taking place in late April.

Construction on the project has been ongoing since May of 2023. Concrete walls ranging from 3 to 7 feet thick had to be installed in order to contain the radiation within the treatment room. All together, the project used 900 cubic yards of concrete which was built as an extension to the CentraCare — Willmar Cancer Center, a part of the larger Rice Memorial Hospital at 301 Becker Ave. S.W. in Willmar.

“Usually our daily rates for usage is in the 20s. Twenty patients a day are coming. I think I am (seeing) upwards of about 4,500 (visits) a year. And that is not all unique patients — some patients get 40 treatments, some get 10,” said Dr. Tod Speer, who specializes in medical oncology and radiation oncology.

By narrowing the area hit by radiation, and by shaping the treatment area, the linear accelerator is able to avoid impacting healthy tissues around the cancer. Even if the targeted cells shift inside the body, the machine and the bed where the patient lies can readjust to line the treatment area up with the cancer cells.

Macy Moore / West Central Tribune

Woody’s Trucking

was started in Lester Prairie in 2001 by Mike Wood. After a few years, Terri Wood joined the team; she now serves as president of the company. In 2011, the company moved to Willmar, where they are still headquartered today.

Woody’s Trucking has 18 tractors and 65 refrigerated trailers making shipments across the country. The company does a lot of work for Jennie-O Turkey Store, delivering their products in temperature-controlled environments.

The work done by Woody’s Trucking has had a large impact on the community, which is why, as part of the

Small Business Administration’s

Small Business Week, Terri Wood and Woody’s Trucking was awarded the Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year.

“I am pretty honored. I have been very humbled. Moving here and all the things we have been through has had challenges. We are just a small business and we keep doing our work every day,” Wood said.

Macy Moore / West Central Tribune

In February, Bethesda announced plans to add an additional 200 rooms to its senior living and care facilities in Willmar.

The expansion would fill the empty lot just east of the current Bethesda facilities in Willmar, which are located generally along Willmar Avenue between Ninth and 12th Streets Southeast. The new expansion would sit at the corner of Willmar Avenue and 12th Street Southeast

The construction will be part of Bethesda’s ongoing expansion project which included major renovations to the current residence facilities at the Willmar location.

The project will provide independent living, assisted living and memory care assisted living. It will introduce 208 new rooms across four floors. Bethesda currently has around 500 units across its Willmar properties.

The new facility will also have rooftop decks, lounges, fitness areas, chapel spaces, casual and formal dining, outdoor spaces and community spaces.