Siri Anderson, one of Cook County’s Economic Development Authority commissioners, still carries something she learned years ago as a student of the late U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone: “We all do better when we all do better.”
That philosophy pushed her to take a closer look at whether the Small Business Development Fund is delivering the kind of community-wide return that makes it worthwhile.
To answer that question, Anderson reached out to colleagues across the Minnesota State system, including St. Catherine University, where she had spent a decade directing graduate programs and building the academic relationships that make real-world research possible. Several institutions expressed interest, but St. Kate’s was the first to commit, with a cost-benefit analysis class already in place and Professor Lacey Chu ready to guide students through the work.
“St. Kate’s has a really good program for community-engaged learning, and it’s an emphasis within their undergraduate program to do this kind of active, real research in the world,” Siri said.
For at least one student, the project felt personal.
“My grandparents own a condo right in Tofte,” said Eleanor Anderson, a political science and economics major in Dr. Chu’s class. “So I have lots of very fond memories taking day trips into Grand Marais and hanging out on the North Shore.”
When Siri visited the class, she laid out the assignment: help the county determine whether the Small Business Development Fund is meeting its goals by analyzing loan data, surveying past recipients, and identifying what information is still missing. The students were asked to show who the fund is reaching, how loans are being used, and what kind of economic ripple effects the program may be creating.
“Being able to meet Siri and to have a more personal connection to Grand Marais makes it feel like you’re doing something pretty good,” Eleanor said.
The biggest challenge was the survey. Of the 42 businesses contacted, just six responded.
“We just didn’t get the response rate we needed,” Siri said.
Eleanor echoed that: “We didn’t get as many responses as we wanted. So we had to do the best we could with what we had.”
Even with limited responses, students were able to draw meaningful patterns from the loan records.
“We could still see who was applying and what kinds of businesses were getting the loans,” Siri said. “The data showed what people were using the money for and the size and type of projects the fund is supporting. And it helped show where the gaps are.”
The class broke into six groups: Retail, Housing vs. Lodging, Professional Services, Restaurants, Arts/Crafts/Manufacturing, and Tourism.
Eleanor’s group examined whether small-business loans were strengthening the tourism sector and whether those grants delivered more value than cutting property taxes.
“We were looking at whether or not the EDA loans are having a beneficial impact on tourism in Cook County, but in Grand Marais specifically,” she explained.
She said she was surprised to discover that some businesses she assumed were geared more toward tourists were actually used more by locals and played a larger role in everyday community life.
Across the other groups, the findings were largely positive. The retail group found the grants to be highly cost-effective, calculating an NPV between $8.4 and $9.7 million and a benefit-cost ratio as high as 22. Students comparing housing and lodging reported that both sectors produced positive returns, with lodging generating the higher NPV and housing offering meaningful social benefits.
Professional services was the lone sector where benefits fell below program costs, a result of students tied to limited data and unusual disruptions, including COVID and a fire. The restaurant group showed that grants delivered a significantly higher return than keeping the money with taxpayers, even under strict assumptions. Arts, crafts, and manufacturing produced more than $6 million in economic benefit, and students found that grants far outperformed a property-tax cut, which produced a benefit-cost ratio below one.
“I would say we all pretty much came to the conclusion that having dedicated grants to support small businesses does have a bigger impact than cutting individual property taxes,” Eleanor said.
Siri said she was pleased with the overall findings.
“I was impressed they found all those things and they really enjoyed it,” she said. “Of course, it’s not perfect data, but the general picture is really broadly favorable.”
For Eleanor, the project reinforced why she chose her field of study in the first place.
“Group work is notoriously painful, but when you can do group work with your friends, it becomes a lot easier to see it as a bonding project or shared goal,” she said. “There are a large majority of us who are in this major because there’s something about it that tickles your brain in a good way. I also think it’s fun in part because Siri was able to come to our classes. It felt very real.”
Choosing her majors, she said, was a natural extension of how she was raised.
“Growing up, I really was surrounded by people who talked politics and talked about social justice and advocacy,” she said. “That’s one of the reasons why I chose St. Kate’s. St. Kate’s has a very publicly social-justice-driven mission.”
Eleanor, who hails from Mahtomedi and graduates in May, is weighing law school or a graduate degree in economics. Whatever direction she chooses, the experience offered a glimpse of how policy, data, and local communities intersect.
The EDA plans to continue partnering with higher-education institutions on future studies.
“If we can expand the number of people doing the work, then we can get better returns, better understanding of what it is we’re doing,” Siri said. “The more I learn, the more I see new areas of inquiry that I’m hot to understand.”
For Cook County leaders, the takeaway is that the Small Business Development Fund appears to be strengthening local industries and generating returns that exceed its cost, even with imperfect data.
The fund is open to businesses in Cook County and Grand Marais, and Siri said the application process has been streamlined this year with clear criteria, three application windows, and support for applicants.
The EDA also has an opening on its board and encourages residents to apply, with preference given to those who live outside Grand Marais city limits in order to maintain geographic diversity. Information, application materials, and a recording of Siri and Dr. Chu’s full presentation during the January 20 board meeting can be found at cookcountymneda.org
For Anderson, the work is ongoing. Studying the numbers is not just about proving a point, but about making sure the county invests wisely in the people and businesses that keep it strong. If the data continues to show that those investments lift the broader community, it will affirm the belief she has carried since her days studying under Wellstone: when one part of the community succeeds, everyone stands to benefit.
