2025 Minnesota Redevelopment Conference
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) hosted the Brownfields and Beyond: 2025 Minnesota Redevelopment Conference
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) hosted the Brownfields and Beyond: 2025 Minnesota Redevelopment Conference
Mayor
St. Cloud, MN
Mayor Jake Anderson was elected mayor of St. Cloud, MN in November 2024 – succeeding Mayor Dave Kleis who'd led the city for nearly 20 years. Jake had previously been elected to the St. Cloud City Council in November 2022 where he represented ward 3.
Mayor Anderson was born in Virginia, MN and later moved at a young age to St. Cloud. He grew up a block south of the old Tech High School (which now serves as City Hall). He graduated from Tech High School and went on to attend St. Cloud State University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Systems from the Herberger School of Business. Jake's immediate family all reside in south St. Cloud.
In 2009, he was appointed to the St. Cloud Planning Commission and served until March 2020. During that tenure, Jake was involved in the 2015 Comprehensive Plan update as well as Neighborhood Best Practices and the annual Capital Improvement Plan process. He was chair of the commission twice and served on the Park & Recreation Advisory board as the planning commission representative from 2010 – 2020.
In 2022, Jake was elected to serve on the City Council for ward 3. As a council member, he also served on the Paramount Center for the Arts Board of Directors, St. Cloud Area Planning Organization (APO), St. Cloud Public Library Board, and Park & Recreation Advisory Board.
Mayor Anderson has been employed as an IT Project Manager with Stearns County since 2009. He currently resides in west St. Cloud (where he's lived since 2006) with his wife Rachel and their golden retriever Ruby.
In his spare time, Jake enjoys sports, trivia, learning new things, and Las Vegas trips. He also binges on streaming series and podcasts.
Jake's governing philosophy is one of collaboration, pragmatism, and cooperation. His intent is to build strong relationships and partnerships throughout our community and region to create a stronger, more vibrant city.
Economic & Community Development Director
City of Thief River Falls, Minnesota
Richard currently serves as co-chair of the Minnesota Design Team. With a career dedicated to revitalizing struggling nonprofits and pioneering new roles within organizations, Richard has led Chamber and economic development efforts across four Midwestern states, bringing a strong track record of community-focused leadership and innovation.
City Administrator
Rushford, Minnesota
Tony Chladek is the City Administrator for Rushford, Minnesota, where he has been actively leading local redevelopment and economic development efforts, including the transformation of the former Farmers Co-op site—an EPA-designated Brownfield. Through support from the U.S. EPA's Technical Assistance to Brownfields (TAB) program and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), Tony has helped guide the city through a thoughtful planning process to assess environmental conditions, explore reuse scenarios, and align redevelopment goals with community needs.
With over 20 years of municipal leadership experience, Tony focuses on strategic planning, interagency coordination, and public engagement. His work on the Rushford site reflects a deep commitment to leveraging state and federal resources to support rural revitalization, sustainable land use, and economic resilience. Tony is honored to share his experience as a local partner working alongside MPCA and EPA to turn complex legacy sites into future community assets.
Associate and Architect
Alliiance
Amber thrives in multidisciplinary teams to create innovative and collaborative design solutions. Her enthusiasm lies in uncovering place-based discoveries that highlight the unique qualities of each community. Amber is also the current co-chair elect of the Minnesota Design Team.
Meghan Elliott has dedicated her career to historic building redevelopment. She is Principal and Founder of Jillpine, New History, and RevitalizeMN. Jillpine is a one-person real estate development company for high-potential historic properties. Meghan is also President of New History, a Minnesota-based consulting firm that works with public and private clients to increase the use of historic buildings and sites. The New History team has consulted on more than 300 redevelopment projects in more than 50 communities. Finally, Meghan co-founded RevitalizeMN in 2020 to advocate for the extension of the Minnesota state historic tax credit, and to bring awareness to the important role of building reuse for economic development, sustainability, housing, and heritage.
Associate Director, Principal Consultant
Braun Intertec Corporation
Travis Fristed is a principal scientist with 20 years of experience in environmental consulting on public and private projects throughout the central US. Travis is currently an Associate Director and a principal scientist for Braun Intertec Corporation in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His responsibilities at Braun Intertec include managing a Natural Resources group, project scoping for environmental regulations and compliance, natural resource field studies, environmental review and permitting, and project management. Travis's technical strength lies in interpreting environmental regulations and pre-project planning, with specific expertise in environmental review, water resource compliance and permitting, site due-diligence, and unique environmental work specific to transportation and linear projects.
Environmental Review Specialist
Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO)
Kelly Gragg-Johnson started her career as an archaeologist for the Minnesota Department of Transportation Trunk Highway Archaeological Reconnaissance Survey Program, as an employee of the Minnesota Historical Society. She worked for that program from 1990-1994. Since 1995, she has worked in the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), first in the Review and Compliance Section at the Minnesota Historical Society, and subsequently in the Environmental Review Program at the Minnesota Department of Administration. As an Environmental Review Specialist, she provides advice and assistance to local, state, and federal agencies as they comply with state and federal historic preservation laws. She regularly collaborates with federal and state agency staff, county and city officials, cultural resource consultants, and other applicants (engineering firms, architects, historical organizations, and the public) to ensure that cultural resources are taken into account during project planning.
Anna Gruber is an experienced public administrator with over 15 years in city management and nearly 20 years in public service. After earning a degree in Public Administration with minors in Business and Community Development from St. Cloud State University in 2008, Anna began her career at Tri-CAP as a Community Development Coordinator. In 2009, she transitioned to City Administration in Pierz, where her passion for municipal leadership took root. She earned an MBA from Texas A&M University in 2016, enhancing her leadership and management experience. Since 2020, she has served as the City Administrator of Sartell, leading community initiatives and overseeing municipal operations for the fastest growing community in the Greater St. Cloud region, including the redevelopment of the Sartell Mill District.
Amy K. Hadiaris, PG
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
Amy Hadiaris has been the supervisor of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s Voluntary Investigation and Cleanup (VIC) Program since 2019. Prior to becoming supervisor, she worked for 20 years as a hydrogeologist in the VIC program. Amy holds a B.S. in Natural Resources Policy and Management from the University of Michigan and a M.S. in Hydrogeology from the University of Nevada. She is a licensed professional geologist in Minnesota.
Deputy Director
Rethos
Erin Hanfin Berg is the deputy director at Rethos, a non-profit organization that leads people to connect with their shared places and spaces through preservation, adaptation, and activation. She earned an M.S. in Historic Preservation from the University of Oregon and has nearly three decades of professional experience in all aspects of preservation practice. She has been employed in the public and private sectors as a historic preservation planner and consultant, and she brings a love of historic architecture and a background in research and documentation to her role at Rethos.
Ms. Hanafin Berg has led Rethos' efforts in direct project support and advocacy since 2008. She now serves as the Director of Policy, Education, and Outreach, overseeing the organization's legislative initiatives and providing information and resources to a wide range of community members about effective approaches to building reuse, home rehab, job creation, sustainability, and economic revitalization.
Mary has practiced in the field of public finance for over 45 years and is an authority in economic development law and tax increment financing. She has broad experience in a variety of bond transactions, particularly in the areas of tax increment financing, municipal general obligation and revenue bonds, tax-exempt lease financing, industrial revenue bond financing, 501(c)(3) revenue bonds, and housing revenue bond financing. Mary serves as bond or economic development counsel to cities, economic development authorities, port authorities, housing and redevelopment authorities, and other local governmental units.
Vice President, Principal Scientist
Braun Intertec Corporation
Steve Jansen is a Principal Scientist and Vice President at Braun Intertec and registered professional geologist with 37 years of environmental consulting experience. He is responsible for project management, technical review/support on environmental due diligence and Brownfields redevelopment projects. Steve specializes in design and implementation of voluntary investigations and cleanups for redevelopment. He has directed investigation and cleanup actions on a variety of industrial, commercial, and residential sites with soil, groundwater and soil vapor contamination. He has dealt with a wide range of contaminants and has experience with a variety of investigative methods and techniques related to drilling, well construction, sampling, geophysics, and analytical testing. Steve has designed and implemented site cleanups using in-situ and ex-situ technologies including air and bio-sparging, soil venting, bioventing, sub-slab depressurization, excavation, solidification, stabilization, high temperature thermal desorption, and land application. He also has significant experience with environmental cost estimating, remediation construction management and hazardous materials abatement, and environmental grant writing and management.
Director, Principal Scientist
Braun Intertec Corporation
Mark Keefer is a registered professional geologist with over 22 years of experience in the environmental field. Mark has extensive experience in due diligence, brownfield redevelopment, site characterization and corrective action, and remediation system design, implementation, and maintenance. Mark currently serves on the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency PFAS taskforce and has investigated several properties impacted with PFAS. Mark, has completed some of the largest brownfield redevelopment cleanups in the Twin Cities metro area, including, the Northern Stacks development, The Heights development and others. Currently, Mark serves as Director/Principal Scientist leading the Twin Cities investigation and remediation group at Braun Intertec.
Executive Director
Minnesota Brownfields
Elizabeth is originally from Madison, Wisconsin, and is currently the Executive Director of Minnesota Brownfields. She has been in the Executive Director role since November 2021. Prior to her work with Minnesota Brownfields, she served as Deputy Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources during the administration of Governor Tony Evers. Elizabeth also served as the DNR's director of Local and Federal Relations, and held a number of other positions in the Department over the course of a 20 plus year career. She served as the Policy Director to Dane County (Wisconsin) Executive Kathleen Falk, where her primary duties focused on conservation-based land acquisition, recreation, land use, and transportation planning. Elizabeth holds a Bachelor of Science and Master's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Elizabeth moved to the Twin Cities in 2019. She lives with her husband Dave in Edina and has two children, Katherine (28) and Teddy (24). She enjoys being outdoors, particularly with her family in Wyoming.
Project Engineer
Loucks Inc.
Jon Knutson joined Loucks in 2014, bringing 11 years of civil engineering experience and five years of hands-on experience in the construction industry as an excavator. His background in the field provides him with unique insights into developing practical and effective designs that help clients make the best use of the site. With a strong foundation in construction contract administration, Jon effectively manages the demolition and redevelopment phases of projects. His strong knowledge as a stormwater designer allows him to collaborate closely with clients to ensure compliance with critical watershed requirements and stormwater needs. Jon's ability to work seamlessly with project partners enables him to deliver innovative, cost-effective solutions. His focus on meeting project goals, reducing costs, and maintaining project momentum has consistently led to successful outcomes for clients.
Lathrop GPM LLP
Rick Kubler is a Partner with Lathrop GPM. He has over 30 years of experience in advising public and private clients on the acquisition, disposition and redevelopment of Brownfield sites and associated environmental due diligence, risk assessment, and liability considerations. He is currently involved in many significant cleanup and redevelopment projects. Rick also specializes in representing clients in federal and state Superfund and environmental administrative proceedings and regularly counsels' clients on environmental compliance, under and above-ground storage tanks, and pollution insurance matters. Rick is a member of the Minnesota Brownfields Advisory Committee and serves on the MPCA's Vapor Intrusion and PFAS Stakeholder Advisory Groups, and MPCA's External Stakeholder Focus Group for Remediation and Brownfield Guidance.
Kristin Lukes is the Director of the Brownfields and Redevelopment Unit of the Department of Employment and Economic Development. Kristin has been with DEED since 1998. This unit is responsible for administering all of DEED's Brownfields and Redevelopment programs along with a variety of programs and special appropriations on behalf of the state legislature.
Ms. Lukes' previous experience includes almost 10 years at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency in the area of contaminated land, and as Minnesota's State Brownfields Coordinator.
Ms. Lukes has also served on the Board of the Economic Development Association of Minnesota also serving as President of the organization. She also serves as Vice Chair on the Board of Minnesota Brownfields, a non-profit organization promoting brownfield redevelopment.
Ms. Lukes also has volunteered in her community by serving on the city of Woodbury's Economic Development Commission, where she was Chair of the Commission's Business Development subcommittee, and also served on a Task Force addressing land use amendments to the city's Comprehensive Plan. She also served several years on the Board of the Woodbury Figure Skating Club.
Ms. Lukes holds a B.A. degree in Environmental Policy from the University of St. Thomas.
Maren is an attorney in Taft's Minneapolis public finance practice. She acts as counsel to governmental entities, borrowers, and financial institutions in governmental purpose and conduit revenue bond transactions. Maren has experience financing numerous types of projects including public capital improvement projects, multifamily housing projects, manufacturing and solid waste facilities, sports arenas, senior living facilities, hospitals, charter schools, and higher education facilities. In addition, Maren acts as development counsel and assists municipal clients in their economic development, housing development, and redevelopment projects by advising clients on tax increment financing and other forms of financial assistance. Maren is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School and St. Olaf College.
Associate and Aviation Architect
Hennebery Eddy Architects
She also serves as co-chair of the Minnesota Design Team, an outward-facing committee of AlA Minnesota serving communities across our great state of Minnesota. Beth is propelled by her passion for people-focused design and her skills in helping clients and communities articulate, visualize, and implement their visions. She is driven by the profession's calling to be citizen architects.
Marcus Martin is a Senior Planner at the Metropolitan Council. He has helped cities meet their development goals by coordinating over $100M of grants and loans over 20 years while working for state and regional government. Marcus has a master's degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs and is an active participant and a former board member of Minnesota Brownfields, a non-profit dedicated to the efficient cleanup and reuse of contaminated land through education, research, and partnerships.
When not thinking about work, Marcus spends way too much time thinking about NBA basketball & cooking.
Kristin has more than twenty years of experience working at both the state and local level on community and economic development projects and has a passion for brownfield redevelopment. Kristin began her career as a city planner before joining the Brownfields and Redevelopment Unit at the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, where she had the opportunity to assist many communities across Minnesota with overcoming challenging redevelopment sites. She returned to local government, working for the City of Mankato for nearly a decade in the Community Development Department on both economic development and affordable housing initiatives, including the redevelopment of more than a few particularly challenging sites. She worked as a Community Development Specialist at SEH assisting communities with engagement, planning, project funding, and implementation strategies. Kristin currently serves as an Assistant Regional Director for EPA Regions 5 & 7 for Kansas State University's Technical Assistance to Brownfields (TAB) program.
Neil Schlagel has been the City Administrator for Winsted, Minnesota for nearly 2 years. Neil is new to public administration. Prior to becoming an administrator he was a high school business teacher for 15 years serving the districts of Buffalo and Dassel-Cokato. While teaching, Schlagel earned a Masters degree in Financial Planning and has been working part time as a licensed representative for Linder Financial for 6 years. Neil also has owned several businesses 3 of which have been based out of Winsted.
Neil's love for his hometown is what drives him to see new projects succeed for Winsted. He is able to offer different viewpoints due to his varied career. Neil believes that cultivating relationships is the most important piece to sustainable growth for his small city.
Shanna is a hydrogeologist, licensed Professional Geologist in Minnesota, and Certified Professional Geologist with the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG). Shanna earned a Bachelor of Science in Geology from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in 2003. Shanna has over 20 years of experience in both the private and public sectors, and currently works as a hydrogeologist/project manager in the Remediation Division at the MN Pollution Control Agency. Shanna works on a variety of brownfield, Superfund, and grant funded sites. Shanna was awarded the Galey Public Service Award by AIPG in 2022 and served as President of AIPG in 2024. She is passionate about geoscience outreach, whether speaking about volcanoes with school children or discussing geoscience careers with college students.
Vice President, Principal Engineer
Braun Intertec Corporation
Christopher Thompson, P.E. is a Vice President and Principal Engineer at Braun Intertec Corporation and has been a consulting civil engineer for over 40 years. Mr. Thompson consults on environmental matters for state and federal regulated sites throughout the US and has been investigating, designing and remediating Brownfield redevelopment sites for 30 years. These sites have included ordnance manufacturing plants, petroleum refineries, wood treatment facilities, landfills, misc. manufacturing plants, chemical formulation and manufacturing facilities, bulk fuel storage and distribution facilities, metal extraction processing plants and agricultural chemical formulation and packaging facilities. Mr. Thompson is trained and experienced in the design and construction of systems to convey and treat dust and fumes at manufacturing plants and has been implementing Soil Vapor Extraction and vapor mitigation systems since 1987. Mr. Thompson has been the hands-on Principal Engineer for large Brownfield development sites in the Twin Cities including the Northern Stacks Site, Lewis Bolt and Nut/Metal Coatings, Howe Chemical, Joslyn Manufacturing, Onan/Medtronic, Lithium Corporation of America, National Lead, US Bank Stadium and the Union Elevator.
Meredith Udoibok, Executive Director of the Office of Community Finance at the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), has been working in the area of community finance for the past 30 years. Meredith helped establish the State of Minnesota's Contamination Cleanup Grant Program and the Redevelopment Grant Program. Her office is responsible for the administration of these programs in addition to an EPA funded Revolving Loan Fund Program, the Demolition Loan Program, the federally funded CDBG Small Cities Development Program, several bond funded public infrastructure grant programs, along with other small programs and Special Appropriation projects awarded by the Legislature. In addition, Meredith has experience in working with many of the programs within the Business and Community Development Division when she served as Assistance Director of the Division.
Prior to her work at DEED, Meredith worked at the MN Legislature. She has also worked for a political consultant, and a MN Senator in Washington, DC.
Udoibok has served on various committees and boards. Meredith has held board positions at the YWCA of St. Paul, MN Brownfields, and the Economic Development Association of MN. She is a member of several economic development and land use associations and committees. She holds 2 bachelor's degrees from Bemidji State University.
Commissioner
Department of Employment and Economic Development
Matt Varilek was appointed DEED Commissioner in June 2023. From 2016 to 2023, Matt served as President of the Little Falls-based Initiative Foundation, which supports economic and community development in the 14 counties and two sovereign tribal nations of Central Minnesota. Previously, he was Chief Operating Officer for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), regional administrator for U.S. SBA Region VIII, and a candidate for Congress in South Dakota. He also served as an Economic Development Director and Speechwriter for the offices of U.S. Senators Tom Daschle and Tim Johnson, and Director of Policy and Research for Natsource LLC, an energy brokerage based in New York. Commissioner Varilek earned a B.A. from Carleton College, a M.Phil. in Economic Development from the University of Glasgow, and a M.Phil. in Environment and Development from the University of Cambridge.
Adam Zobel is a Principal within the Real Estate and Remediation Group at Stantec. Adam is also a Remediation Practice Leader at Stantec for the Great Lakes Region. He has experience in environmental consulting assisting clients with transaction-based environmental due diligence, brownfield redevelopment, brownfield cleanup, assessment, and redevelopment grants, site investigation, and remediation projects since 2002. Adam has served on the Minnesota Brownfields Membership committee since 2019.