Cohasset, Minn. – Jasper Company recently received a $100,000 Revolving Loan Fund from Lake Country Power to support a property expansion construction project to attract more tourism for Ely and the surrounding areas.

The Revolving Loan Fund that LCP administers came about from previous economic development grants received through the United States Department of Agriculture. The USDA is a federal agency that provides loans to not-for-profit electric cooperatives like Lake Country Power, in an effort to boost economic development in rural America. 

Jasper Company is 16 miles northeast of Ely in District 2 of Lake Country Power’s service territory. With the loan, the family resort and outfitting business of Don Beans, his wife Joan Kjorsvig-Beans and daughter Cindy Smyka are building a 3,800-square-foot guest house on property at the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. 

“The amount of forethought and planning put into the construction process has allowed them to find creative solutions to add an efficiently-built new destination on Jasper Lake near the BWCAW,” said Todd Johnson, LCP’s manager of energy services and business development. “Through the Revolving Loan Fund, we’re able to re-lend federal funding to businesses that meet a set of loan qualifications.”

Qualifying businesses must be located within Lake Country Power’s service area. Businesses may apply for up to $100,000 at three percent interest which must be paid off in 10 years or less.

For more information about economic development loans and qualifications, please contact Todd Johnson at Lake Country Power at 800-421-9959, extension 2250.     

Pictured (from left): Cindy Smyka of Jasper Company; Todd Johnson, LCP Manager of Energy Services and Business Development; Tracy Peterson Wirtanen, LCP Chief Financial Officer; Mike Forsman, LCP District 2 Director; Greg Schulzetenberg, LCP Manager of Community Relations & Marketing; and Don Beans of Jasper Company.