Created in 1974 and commencing work the following year, the Scott County Community Development Agency (CDA) remains true to its mission of helping residents and businesses alike. This work includes affordable housing and rental assistance for individuals, families, and seniors, along with economic development initiatives such as helping businesses get a start in Scott County, Minnesota.
“It was really in response to the needs of low-to-moderate income households across the county at the time, and our work has really evolved over those 50 years,” explains Executive Director, Julie Siegert, of the CDA’s origins. “We have expanded from just our housing work to include economic development, homeownership initiatives, redevelopment activities, and more.”
To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the CDA moved from its previous facility into a new building at 100 5th Avenue East in Shakopee, Minnesota. Used for the administration of housing programs and community services, the structure also provides 60 affordable housing units for seniors. Addressing housing needs across Scott County, Siegert says the CDA’s current mission is to invest in possibilities to live and work in the county. “It’s really reflective of the work we do in housing as well as the work we do with businesses.”
Challenges, meet opportunities
Like many other communities across America, Scott County continues to face affordable housing challenges for people at all stages of life. This includes younger persons looking for their first apartment, growing families needing a single-family home, older adults looking to downsize, and older persons. The CDA actively seeks to provide life-cycle housing opportunities for all stages.
The CDA’s website features an abundance of valuable information on everything from available housing units to waiting lists, affordable rental homes, landlord information, the Center for Entrepreneurship, community development, and more. The downloadable Scott County CDA 2026 Resource Packet provides details on everything from housing and financial resources to homeownership resources and important events, like first-time homebuyer workshops.
Serving a combined population of 159,100, the CDA works with eight cities and 10 townships on a wide range of housing solutions. Back in the early 2000s, Scott was Minneapolis’ fastest-growing county, and although this was positive and added almost 5,000 jobs, the growth—which includes some migration from Minneapolis and Saint Paul—has presented some challenges in terms of rental prices and housing availability.
According to the CDA, the goal is to have enough jobs for 50 percent of the workforce to live and work nearby. The combined 18 municipalities/local government units differ in size and type; some are less populated, in more rural settings like Credit River and Elko New Market, while larger urban communities include Savage and county seat Shakopee, home to about 24,000 residents. This diversity has called for the CDA to explore different types of housing options in both urban and rural areas, the latter of which are often underrepresented. Brentwood Court is one example; created through a collaboration to create 50 market-rate senior community apartments, Brentwood Court’s units range from studios to three bedroom units. The project also saw the development of spaces for a much-needed clinic, pharmacy, and library.
“We are trying to provide housing choice across the county,” says Siegert. “Our role as the CDA is, we may be coming in with a more affordable product, but there’s certainly a lot of housing across the county to build on the amenities we have. We have a lot of beautiful lakes here, so if you’re a CEO looking to live in our county and establish your business here, or if you’re in the workforce and you need a more attainable home, what we’re trying to provide is housing across that continuum.”
Open for business
In terms of access to infrastructure, Scott County and its communities truly deliver on all fronts. U.S. Highway 169 goes through the county seat of Shakopee and connects to the Twin Cities metro area, a popular manufacturing corridor. The east side also boasts Interstate 35 and a new industrial park. “Transportation proximity to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) is an asset, as well as access to the labor pool in the Twin Cities metropolitan area,” says Jo Foust, Business and Community Development Director.
Shakopee is also home to the St. Francis Regional Medical Center, which ranks nationwide in the top 10 percent of hospitals for care and quality and serves Scott County and surrounding communities. The entire area is also home to many new and long-time businesses and industries, including Rahr Malting, which supplies breweries across America. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota (SMSC) operates a casino, hotel, and restaurants employing about 4,200 individuals, while Amazon has a large fulfillment center and distribution operations with about 2,500 workers.
Other larger employers include Emerson Electric, active in industrial automation and flow controls, the Valleyfair amusement park, Imagine print solutions, computer giant Seagate Technology, cybersecurity expert Entrust Corporation, cryogenics company Chart Industries, and many others. 500 employee-strong GN Group, renowned for audio and hearing technologies, recently moved to Shakopee.
Another incentive for companies interested in establishing roots in Scott County is its business parks. The first, River Valley Business Park, is readily accessible to Highway 169 in Shakopee and a short drive to MSP. Completed in late 2023, the industrial park features two buildings encompassing 449,893 square feet and is plug-and-play for new tenants.
Another new development is Park I-35. Ideal for warehousing, logistics, and manufacturing, the site offers immediate access to Interstate I-35 and is linked to major markets such as Des Moines, Kansas City, and even Dallas and San Antonio. With 118 acres, Park I-35 can accommodate up to 1.5 million square feet of industrial space. One of the park’s key tenants is family-owned Niagara Bottling, which bottles water for major retailers like Sam’s Club, Costco, and Walmart. “That’s been a really good partnership here with the CDA,” says Michael Werneke, Business Development Manager. “We helped make that development come to fruition by partnering with the city, and they have a capacity for about one million square feet in that industrial park.”
Working with Minnesota commercial real estate brokers, Scott County proactively attracts new businesses to the area, and one of the CDA’s tools includes a broker’s day event, which sees representatives from cities and utilities provide information on available sites. Additionally, the CDA works in collaboration through Scott County area leaders on identifying key corridors, and has an economic development assistance program which provides funding to communities to ensure site readiness. Recently, the CDA has been working with Prior Lake City Council on adopting an Alternative Urban Areawide Review (AUR). The study of the City of Prior Lake and Spring Lake Township aims to open up over 2,700 acres for commercial, industrial, and residential use to be developed over the next 20 years. And in the City of Jordan, the CDA is working on the study of a rural industrial park. The city has a historic downtown, and the CDA paid for the demolition of an old building to prepare the site for redevelopment.
Tourism hub
All communities within Scott County, large and small, offer wonderful attractions for visitors. These include Valleyfair, a 90-acre amusement park in Shakopee, and the Canterbury Park horse racing track. Running from late August to October, the Minnesota Renaissance Festival remains a top three Renaissance festival in the country in terms of size and attendance.
Alongside Mystic Lake—one of the larger casinos in the Midwest—this year saw the opening of the new Mystic Lake Amphitheater on the Canterbury Park development site. “It is one of the larger amphitheaters in the Midwest, with a 19,000-seat capacity,” says Tim Zunker, President at the Shakopee Chamber & Visitors Bureau. This year saw about 40 shows booked in a shorter time frame, from June to September, including national and regional acts. “So we have a large presence within the hospitality/tourism sector in Shakopee,” Zunker says.
Working toward the future
Today, the Scott County Community Development Agency is building on housing and business initiatives to position itself for the years to come. Although the county doesn’t have a community technical college yet, the CDA is active in workforce training programs in partnership with regional community and technical colleges like Dakota County Technical College (DCTC) and Inver Hills Community College. These relationships, and others with businesses in the area, are helping Scott County thrive.
“Over the past few years, we’ve worked with these partners to bring in grants and other funding mechanisms to train and retain workforce inside the county in areas like manufacturing, health care, hospitality, and different sectors where there is a need for those training programs,” says Foust. A grant program with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development saw almost 170 individuals trained, and others are currently being trained under another grant.
“We’ll probably end up training close to 200 individuals on that free training program inside the county,” shares Werneke. “We work with individuals who are in most need from a job standpoint and we connect to our business partners to help find them jobs, apprenticeships, or other opportunities with that employer.”
To be sure, one of the unique aspects of Scott County and the CDA remains collaboration, and approach that includes the CDA itself, businesses, elected officials, townships, schools, and others. “When you have that foundation with governments operating together, it really makes it a lot easier for things to get accomplished,” says Siegert. “That’s really one of the benefits of scale and the partnerships that we’ve been able to form across jurisdictions, which allows us to work more efficiently together.”
For the Scott County Community Development Agency, the work of community development is ultimately about creating the conditions for people and businesses to put down roots and thrive. From expanding housing choices and supporting new development to preparing workers for in-demand careers and strengthening connections between municipalities, businesses, schools, and other partners, the CDA continues to take a broad, collaborative approach to the county’s growth. As Scott County looks to the future, that spirit of cooperation will remain one of its greatest assets, helping to ensure that growth is not simply measured in new homes, jobs, businesses, and investment, but in the opportunities and quality of life those elements create for the people who call the county home.
