Hermantown, Proctor, Rice Lake Provide State of the Cities Address

PROCTOR, Minn. – The leaders of the three cities that surround Duluth to the north and west gave their annual updates to area businesses Thursday.

The Hermantown Area Chamber of Commerce hosted their State of the Cities luncheon at the Black Woods Event Center in Proctor, featuring the mayors of Hermantown, Proctor, and Rice Lake.

Chamber President & CEO Kimberly Parmeter says they see it as a chance for chamber members to learn more about how they can play a larger role in the local economy.  “One of the great takeaways is we’re going to be hearing from our mayors and finding out about what’s enticing in their communities, what great things are yet to come.  Hopefully we can entice more business owners to move or expand their businesses to these beautiful communities.”

As for the mayors, Hermantown’s Wayne Boecher, Proctor’s Chad Ward, and Rice Lake’s John Werner got their chance to outline their city’s goals and what they can offer businesses.

“Quite frankly the biggest benefit that we have to businesses is we don’t have a sales tax,” says Werner.  “To us that is a very viable option.”

The State of the Cities event was pushed back from January this year due to the rise in COVID cases at that time.