By Bruce Karnick

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Business growth is a great thing, and Quality One Woodworking is experiencing that firsthand. Last week, Quality One broke ground on an addition to their property at 3005 Millard Ave. in Hastings. The expansion includes a 52,000 square foot building that will house enough machinery to add 50 employees to their 160+ member workforce here in Hastings.

“As you can see, if you come out to the industrial park, you see that we are growing in buildings and lessening and space to build on,” Mayor Mary Fasbender said at the groundbreaking ceremony. “I love seeing that this expansion they built first in 1997 and they are expanding 52,000 square feet, which accumulates to 50 more jobs within our community. That’s what I love to see about it, where people can come out a few miles from where they live, and they can have a job here, so they don’t have to worry as much about transportation and it’s supporting. It’s important to supporting the economics of Hastings so that I mean it just brings a smile to my face when I come out here and I see all this dirt being moved.”

The work that can be seen now is just a portion of the work that went into this project, a project that started out with the Hastings Economic Development and Redevelopment Authority (HEDRA).

HEDRA owned the parcel of land next to Quality One, so Quality One enlisted the help of HEDRA to make the purchase arrangement which also helped with all the planning pieces including an additional parking lot and ponding basin.

“It’s an engineering requirement, when you disturb a certain amount of land, you’re required by ordinance to provide stormwater maintenance. Stormwater basins are used for meeting the ordinance requirement for treating stormwater onsite,” explained Eric Maass, Economic Development Coordinator.

Maass also touched on how HEDRA helps the planning process for businesses in Hastings looking to build or expand. Bottom line? HEDRA can help smooth out the process with the city guiding businesses with permits and other planning processes.

Maass explains the process is not necessarily quick. “Realistically, the fastest is probably three months to work through the city processes in terms of getting their construction plans ready. Catching a HEDRA meeting, planning commission, City Council. Then looking at land use entitlements, those take a minimum of three months but can take upwards of six depending on the scope of the project. And if there are things like variances needed, that adds to the time frame.”

HEDRA really helps make sure all the ducks are in a row before ever breaking ground. It’s better to find a planning mistake on paper than after a building has started.

For Quality One, they made the decision at the right time. Shortages in the building industry had not hit quite as hard so prices we still relatively low and product was mostly available. As of right now, everything is on track for an occupancy of March 2022, meaning they can start moving in equipment then.