A couple of months ago, Downtown McIntosh had many vacant buildings and only a few stores were open for business. Today, the Northwest Minnesota Small Businesses Development Center hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to welcome not one but five new business to the central downtown business block.

“McIntosh has not had this many business open at one time in 50 years. It’s absolutely restored the entire downtown area,” said Grant Oppegaard, a consultant with Northwest Minnesota Small Businesses Development Consultant.

McIntosh resident Andrea Stordahl saw potential in the downtown area after moving her business, Minnesota Rust, to a vacant building there last fall. Then, five months ago, she purchased and renovated four other buildings on the same block.

“To me, this has given me just so much hope and so much excitement and it feels – I can feel the change, I’m really happy to be a part of it, I’m really happy that we did this,” Stordahl said.

In just a short amount of time, Andrea revitalized the downtown area, and the four other buildings she purchased are now leased by business entrepreneurs who all happen to be women.

“I really admire the women that we have here. We really targeted specific people because they are successful and driven and hustlers, and they’re people who can make it work,” Stordahl said. “And in a small town, you kind of have to be able to evolve and change in regards to the market.”

The new businesses range from small boutiques and a café to a hair salon and even a soap shop that sells handcrafted products like candles. Four of the five businesses are currently open, with the café set to open in early 2020.

By — Malaak Khattab

News Reporter