JACKSON - Minnesota Housing Commissioner Jennifer Ho will visit Jackson Friday as part of an event hosted by the Jackson Economic Development Authority.
Joining Ho will be State Senators Julie Rosen and Bill Weber and State Representative Bjorn Olson.
Ho is the seventh Commissioner of Minnesota Housing, having been appointed by Governor Tim Walz in December 2018. Ho has also served as the Senior Advisor for Housing and Services at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Obama Administration.
The visit will start at 10 a.m. at Jackson City Hall and will include a bus tour of areas of industrial and commercial growth in Jackson, newer housing developments and locations designated for future workforce housing project.
The group will return to City Hall around 11 a.m. for a discussion regarding the housing struggle, especially for market rate workforce housing, facing Jackson and much of Greater Minnesota. A panel of local business and community leaders will join in the discussion.
“We are excited that Commissioner Ho, Senators Weber and Rosen, and Representative Olson have chosen Jackson to visit and see first-hand how the housing crunch is stifling our growth and impeding our employers from being able to hire the employees they need to sustain and grow their operations,” said Jackson City Administrator Matt Skaret.
“This is a dire situation not only in Jackson, but throughout countless rural communities in Greater Minnesota.”
Jackson Economic Development Coordinator Dave Schmidt says the housing situation is difficult statewide.
“Affordable workforce housing has been a major hurdle for businesses in, not only Jackson, but much of Greater Minnesota,” Schmidt said. “This is an incredible opportunity to have Commissioner Ho, along with Senators Rosen and Weber and Representative Olson, visit and hear directly from our community the issues we are facing. Jackson is poised for tremendous growth. Housing and infrastructure to support it are two of the biggest hurdles to achieve that growth.”