Leif featured in Northfield News article on microgrants
In Saturday’s Northfield News: Microgrants help local businesses by Carol Roecklein.
After 20 years of working as a painting contractor, Northfield native Leif Knecht turned his passion for growing trees into a career in 1992. Following the addition of landscaping services to his business, he came to a crossroads: He had started business expansion efforts, but wanted to take it to the next level. So he applied for, and received, a microgrant through the Economic Development Authority (EDA) in 2000. Knecht is one of about 25 area business owners who have received a Clement F. Shearer Microgrant since the program’s inception in 1998. “Anybody with a startup business naturally has some reservation, and wonders if it will fly,” Knecht said. “As much as it was a material help, it was a confidence builder.” The grant allowed Knecht to build his first small cold-frame greenhouse and broaden his business appeal. In the years since receiving the microgrant, Knecht was able to build several more greenhouses and will build the 10th one this fall. His business today consists of five major parts: field and container growing, retail, design and landscape.
