EDA holds special meeting to determine next steps following resignation of Executive Director

The Cook County/Grand Marais Economic Development Authority held a special meeting on July 3 to accept the resignation of Executive Director Heidi Krampitz and discuss short-term and long-term EDA activities.

An updated agenda outlining the discussion and action items was distributed to EDA board members and WTIP before the July 3 meeting.

The meeting began with the first action item, to officially accept the resignation of Krampitz. The EDA Board voted unanimously to accept the resignation. 

The EDA Board then proceeded to review the immediate-term activities, which included examining the current status and next steps for Taconite Harbor, the EDA Business Development Fund, the 2026 EDA Budget, the Superior National Golf Course, and the Cedar Grove Business Park.

EDA Board President Peter Clissold shared with the board that a temporary moratorium is in effect for the EDA Business Development Fund, due to the high volume of applications and grant requests received during the first half of the year.

Two grant requests submitted prior to the decision to enact a temporary moratorium will be reviewed and voted on during the July 15 meeting. Since the new year, the EDA has approved $135,000 of the $200,000 business development grant budget to local businesses.

As of late June, $24,562 of the $135,000 is frozen after the EDA and EDA Grant Review Committee discovered according to county records, grant applicant Bruce Block was delinquent on property taxes. The EDA Board voted unanimously during the May 20 meeting to approve a grant to Block and his business, Sydney’s Pizza and Frozen Custard, to assist with reopening the dining room, adding a breezeway enclosure, and purchasing a new grill to expand the menu offerings.

The EDA Board then discussed closing on a Cedar Grove Business Park lot to Vesta Unchained, ongoing interest with the sale of Superior National Golf Course, and the submission of the 2026 EDA preliminary budget to County Auditor/Treasurer Braidy Powers.

While the agenda stated the short-term goal of the EDA is to achieve continuity of operations, the identified long-term goal is to provide the next executive director the space to work strategically with partners outside of Cook County and integrate with the Cook County business community.

During the meeting, the EDA Board discussed contracting with North Shore Development Co. to provide administrative support during the recruitment and hiring of a new executive director. North Shore Development Co. is owned by Jason Hale, the former executive director of the Cook County Housing Redevelopment Authority (HRA). The former EDA executive director, Theresa Bajda, recently joined the team and works with Hale on operational matters.  

Clissold said he spoke with Hale prior to the July 3 meeting and said North Shore Development Co. is in the “position to provide administrative support. Not just in the temporary environment that we see here.”

Clissold suggested establishing a special committee to develop and finalize a contract with North Shore Development Co. for temporary administrative support until an executive director is hired. The EDA Board voted unanimously to establish a special committee consisting of Clissold, Howard Hedstrom, and Mark Shackleton.

Clissold also shared that he reached out to HRA Board Chair Bill Gabler to inquire about interest in revisiting an EDA/HRA merger. In 2023, the HRA and EDA explored the idea of merging the two entities following the resignation of EDA Executive Director Beth Drost. Ultimately, in May 2023, the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 to deny a resolution that would have merged the HRA and the EDA. Clissold said after speaking with Gabler, “There isn’t much interest right now in the HRA, marrying up at the EDA as was considered a couple of years ago. But that’s just today.”

Shackleton said, “I think the bigger issue is just having this constant transition of directors.”

He added that the HRA has had two directors since its inception in 2021, and the EDA is on the “third, possibly fourth EDA director since I’ve been here in three years. So that turnover is the issue for me.”

Since August of 2021, the EDA has had three executive directors. Beth Drost served as executive director from August 2021 to January 2023, Theresa Bajda served as executive director from August 2023 to August 2024, and Krampitz served as executive director from November 2024 to July 2025.

Clissold and the board discussed how the independent nature of the position and being able to balance economic development and administrative tasks have been a challenge in the past, as outlined in former director Bajda’s exit interview and Krampitz’s resignation letter. A long-term solution the board discussed would be to outsource the administrative responsibilities.

“The one thing that’s missing from the conversation is the culture of the organization,” Alex Beebe-Giudice, EDA commissioner, said. “The framework within that the director interfaces with the board. How a seven-member board effectively communicates, delegates, and collaborates with the director.”

He added that while the EDA Board can change the director’s job description and tasks to identify specific functions that the director will serve, “I think it’s also worthwhile to discuss how the members of this board participate in the director’s day-to-day and long-term projects that are in front of them.”

He suggested that during the recruitment and hiring process, it would be worthwhile for the EDA to explore this dynamic and “look at the culture of the organization in addition to the job description.”

The EDA personnel committee will work to develop a proposed plan that includes updates to the director’s flow of responsibility, a day-to-day description of the job, and identifies necessary restructuring ideas. The EDA Board will review the proposed document and ideas during the July 15 meeting.

Taconite Harbor

One of the larger projects underway for the EDA is the strategic planning process for Taconite Harbor.

In September 2024, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) awarded Cook County a Community Energy Transition grant totaling $1 million. The funds were designated for two projects in Cook County. The funding allocated $800,000 for the county waste transfer station and $200,000 to develop a strategic plan for the transition of the Taconite Harbor Energy Center. The grant expires June 30, 2026.

The EDA formed an EDA Taconite Harbor Subcommittee, comprised of Dave Mills, Tracy Benson, and Siri Anderson, to work with Executive Director Krampitz to oversee and develop the process. In May, the EDA Board approved the hire of Stantec Consulting Services to facilitate the strategic planning process.

With the EDA now without an executive director, the board discussed during the July 3 meeting who should be designated as the primary point of contact for the project. Clissold said the county is “quite interested in making sure that there’s a single point of contact” as the planning phase moves forward. Benson said she would follow up with Schroeder Township and the county to maintain open lines of communication and discuss who will be designated as the primary point of contact.

On July 8, Benson attended the Cook County Board of Commissioners’ meeting. She spoke during the public comment period to provide an overview of the Taconite Harbor strategic planning process and update the commissioners on its current status. Later in the meeting, the commissioners approved an agreement with Stantec Consulting Services, Inc., to provide strategic planning for Taconite Harbor.

Kalli Hawkins July 8, 2025