Elizabeth Kautz, Mayor, City of Burnsville

Elizabeth Kautz, mayor of the city of Burnsville, spoke with Invest: about how the residents and business community came together after a  local tragedy and how they look to the future as a community. She also highlighted key players in the city’s economy, persevering through challenges, and the growing importance of recognizing and treating mental health struggles.

What have been the main highlights and key milestones for Burnsville in the last 12 months?

On February 18, we suffered a tragic killing of police officers when they responded to a domestic case. We lost two officers and a paramedic. Our business, residents, and everybody else came together and held tight together. This is what Burnsville is about. It’s about the people who live here and choose Burnsville as the place for their business. Our businesses have been thriving, and last year our unemployment rate was down to 2.8%. We continue to redevelop in Burnsville and reimagine our spaces. We are a vibrant city boldly leading and welcoming to all. Even though we experienced tragedy, a lot of new businesses moved into Burnsville and there has been a lot of development, including a new housing development. Burnsville is also a medical destination.

What are your immediate and medium term goals and priorities for Burnsville?

I am celebrating my 30th year as mayor of the city. We are looking to the future. Burnsville has changed a great deal in the last 30 years. We ask the residents what they want Burnsville to look like 10, 15, or 20 years from now. Every 10 years we put together a comprehensive plan that we file with the metropolitan council. The last time we did this was in 1995, when I came into office, and over 2,000 people took part. We were able to understand what was important to our people and where they wanted the community to go. We have accomplished a great deal by engaging the people and collaborating with them. We create a budget around what we learn, and then put in place our tactical implementation plan for every department in the city. 

What are the primary sectors and industries driving growth forward in Burnsville?

M Health Fairview Ridges is a medical destination with a huge campus that includes a hospital, special services, and employs 967 people. There is a YMCA where people go to get healthy and exercise. We have a senior community nearby. We have a huge aerospace industry. In 1980, Rosemount Industry chose to locate in Burnsville and has gone through many iterations. Today, it is Collins Rockwell and is one of our biggest employers, employing over 800 people. We also have many other industries like Quality Ingredients headquarters. Our largest and original corporation is Ames Construction. Their corporate headquarters is here and employs 400 people. PepsiCo has a major bottling plant in Burnsville where they manufacture and distribute their product. They have over 500 employees. There is also a huge number of small businesses in Burnsville. The miracle is in the human spirit. When going through tragedy, or the recession, we create a space for people to come together and get to know one another and help one another, and it is magic. For a city our size, one of the things I worked on when I first came into office was to move us to a triple A bond rating, then putting goals in place. 

How does the city of Burnsville work with county and state officials in order to promote economic growth and attract investment to the region?

I am a big believer in partnerships, collaboration, and building bridges. I am a former president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, an organization of mayors across the United States. It’s important for us to have all of those partnerships because it benefits the people and businesses in Burnsville. We work closely with county, state, and federal governments to maintain relationships. Burnsville is a transportation corridor. Federal, state, and county roads all dissect Burnsville and make the city a corridor of commerce. We have the Minnesota river running through the city. We look at railways, roads, and river traffic to transport our goods throughout the country and to the world. 

How is Burnsville supporting local residents and small businesses in the region while at the same time embracing modernization and growth?

During the pandemic, many businesses shut down. We received federal money and made grants available to small businesses to help them thrive through the pandemic. We also understood that our residents needed help improving their homes and to continue to work on their properties. We allocated funds from the federal government toward grants for our homeowners. We worked with developers who wanted to build during the recession and pandemic who had to suspend moving forward because they didn’t have the financing they needed. Now, housing developers have been building a lot of housing here in Burnsville. 

What are the primary challenges facing Burnsville at the moment, and how is your office working to address these challenges?

All over the country, mental health is a primary challenge. In Burnsville, we analyzed the call volumes for police and fire, and the data showed mental health was an issue. We were the first to put in place a behavioral health unit. Our fire departments, all of our firefighters, are also paramedics. Mental health is an issue that is a human issue that affects all of us. When we have a healthy community, we have businesses that thrive here. Mental health has a direct impact on work production and quality of life. Without healthy people, we don’t have an economy. Without healthy people, industries won’t be able to achieve the goals and objectives they have to be successful.