please tell me about Thief river falls MN (Duluth, Bemidji: elementary school, university)

[Hbang]

my family planning to open a small business in Thief River Falls, but we know so little about this city, could everyone please tell me more about TRF ? like economy, is it good to open small business there ? what do people do for living? like do farm ? do you think the population is slowly growing ? are there any fun things to do ? lake ? fishing or camping ? please give me as much info about this city. thank alot

[Hbang]

anybody please help ?

[GBCommenter]

I would be happy to help you, but unfortunately I've never been there. Hopefully someone will be able to give you some meaningful insight.

[undfan]

I grew up in the vacinity of TRF, but not TRF proper. I'm about 3hrs away now, but my parents still live in the area, so I travel through there a few times a year and I stay in the loop a little bit. I'm not sure what I can tell you that isn't in Wikipedia.

The economy revolves around agriculture and manufacturing. While ag. has been declining in the area, manufacturing has increased, particularily Digikey (electronics distribution). The other big manufacture is Artic Cat snowmobiles and rec. vehicles which has a more volatile market. Actually, the ag industry isn't doing that bad, there was just an exodus of young farmers that started in the late 70's and farming is an industry that once you get out, it is extremely hard to gather the capital and catch up on the techniques to get back in. Hence, as farmers retire, their farms are being absorbed by bigger farms, not new farmers. With its manufacturing, TRF has actually made gains in population, where most of the towns around have shrunk drastically. As per the chart in Wiki, the population still isn't where it was in 1980.

Another thing which killed a lot of small businesses in TRF(clothing, furniture etc.) starting circa 1980, is competition from Grand Forks, ND. While GF isn't a particularily huge town at 60k, it has become a one-stop shopping center with most of all the major chains (Target, Kohls, BestBuy etc.). It is about an hr. away. Other cities of note, that probably don't compete but residents visit would be Fargo ND (2hr.), Winnipeg MB (2.5 hr.), Mpls-St.P (5.5 hr), Bemidji (many lakes, 1.5 hr), Duluth (4.5 hr), Warroad (Lake of the Woods area 1.5hr).

Something to consider, depending on what type of business you're starting. There is a Walmart and Kmart (I don't think Walmart has closed the Kmart yet). There is also a huge grocery store called Hugo's - a regional chain out of Grand Forks that is very difficult to compete with.

TRF currently has a pop. of about 8,500. The high school runs about 175 students per grade. There was a private elementary school back in my day, but I don't know if that still exists. There is also a junior college and a tech. college. They may have merged, I'm not sure.

Recreation wise, in summer, you probably can camp, almost anywhere. If you want lakes, you're going to have to travel 1-3 hours depending on what you're looking for. Probably know more than 3. I do believe people fish the Theif River (in town) for catfish, but I never have. I'm guessing they most likely have a softball league as most towns that size do, but I don't know it for a fact. TRF area is big destination for deer hunters in the fall.

Winters, you snowmobile, ice fish, play and/or watch hockey (the best high school facilities in the state), or curl. There are plenty of sports to watch with a high school and juco in town as well as the University of ND in Grand Forks. There is also an Indian casino about 7mi south with a pretty decent indoor water park. I believe they have an Anytime Fitness and maybe more health clubs in town.

[GBCommenter]

Though I cannot really tell you much about TRF, a thought did occur to me. Why are you considering TRF? I mean this in the vein of what drew you there and not another city? Have you done some other research to lead you to think TRF may be the place for the small business you propose to bring to the town? I'm not trying to be rude, please believe me, but my hope is this forum is not the extent of your research. Frankly, at best it should be a very small part of a business plan.

You obviously don't have to answer the question on this forum, but for your sake make sure before you invest $$$ into a business in TRF (or anywhere else) you have done true due diligence to increase your chances of success. Running a small business is hard enough even with with identifying a true business need and plan to make a successful business, much less without that homework. Do some research online or elsewhere to create a business plan and research methods to increase your chances of success (or decide the business is not viable for the market you want to sell towards). There are books you can access online for business plans and running a small business, plus personal habits to help keep you focused on a successful business plan and vision. You might also want to check out websites such as the National Federation of Independent Business (I would guess they might have some resources for running a successful business). Perhaps inquire with the local Chamber of Commerce for TRF .

This website may or may not give you a bit of insight into what a few people think of an area, but that is no substitute for some hard core research into the business climate, the demographics of an area, the governmental climate of an area, and your own personal habits and desires. It is also no substitute for creating a concrete plan of how you will make your business a success (such as a business plan and/or a S.M.A.R.T. plan to create criteria that helps determine if your goal is a good one and how you will create a successful path.).

[fourwinds]

DigiKey has grown to over 2500 employees. Many of them commute from 30 miles or more. If Thief River itself could accommodate all DigiKey's employees, it would essentially double in size. Its projected to continue to grow, but if it falters (it is an international electronics parts distributor the relies on Federal Express) TRF's economy would falter badly.

[rzzz]

TRF is not great, but does have DigiKey, which is more than most towns in the region have going for them. There are not fun things to do unless you like hockey. There is a state of the art hockey facility there, because a Las Vegas casino tycoon grew up in the area and donated money to build it. (same guy who did the one at UND in Grand Forks) If you like camping, the nicest nearby area for that is the Bemidji area, which is about 1 hour and 45 minutes away. You can fish on Red Lake, which is a set of two huge lakes on an indian reservation, about an hour and a half away.