Breaking ground for the Dollar General Friday afternoon, Aug. 31, in Eden Valley are councilmember Janice Sheets, Steve Schmitt, mayor Brent Bengtson, and project manager Paul Maxwell from Ratcliff Development. The goal is to have construction completed within 120 days. Staff photo by Jean Doran Matua.
By Jean Doran Matua, Editor
More than 14 months ago, Paul Maxwell from Ratcliff Development walked into the Eden Valley City Hall looking for commercial property on which to build a new Dollar General in town. After months of investigating the possibilities, a site was selected and arrangements were made to purchase it from Steve Schmitt. A few challenging snags that were resolved along the way and ground was finally broken for the new store on a vacant lot along Highway 55 on the west end of town Friday afternoon, Aug. 31.
Mayor Brent Bengtson read a brief speech he’d prepared, amid highway traffic and earth-moving vehicles.
“There were a lot of people involved that help make this happen,” he said. “City staff, the Eden Valley EDA, Paul and the rest of the Ratcliff Development staff, BJ Bass Builders, and the contractors and tradespeople that will be working to complete the building. We thank you for your time and effort.”
On behalf of the city and the chamber of commerce, Bengtson was pleased to see the Dollar General store come. “This store will bring back goods and services we haven’t seen in Eden Valley for a very long time,” adding the value of jobs and economic growth to the city and to the area.