JSDC OKs help for new frozen yogurt store in city

Jamestown may have another option for frozen treats this fall.

The Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp. gave approval for a Flex Pace interest buy down for a proposed Cherry Berry in the current Sara Lee Bakery Building at 2502 Sixth Ave. SW.­

Cherry Berry is a franchise-based frozen yogurt chain, according to Kalpesh Patel, president of KSSG3. KSSG3 owns the Super 8 Motel in Jamestown and is buying the Holiday Inn Express. The company would operate Cherry Berry along with a coffee shop in the Sara Lee building. It intends to open the store by the end of September.

“It could bring more people off the exit and into town,” Patel said. “And it is a chance for local people to try something new.”

Cherry Berry shops are self-service with customers filling bowls with various flavors of frozen yogurt and toppings. The bowl is then weighed with the cost determined by the ounce.

“It’s not cheap,” Patel said. “It is a different, high-quality product.”

The store would employ between three and five people at about $8 per hour, Patel said.

JSDC will invest up to $54,000 in the Flex Pace interest buy down with an additional $100,000 invested by the Bank of North Dakota. The investment reduces the interest expense KSSG3 will pay. The JSDC portion is repaid to the organization after the original principle of the loan is paid off.

A Cherry Berry franchise requires and initial investment of up to $325,000. The forms filed by KSSG3 indicate total project financing of up to $5,000,000, according to the forms Patel filed with the JSDC.

In other action, Connie Ova, JSDC CEO, said the Renewable Fuel Standards approval for the Dakota Spirit AgEnergy ethanol project planned for the Spiritwood Energy Park may be delayed.

“We’ve gotten no update on the Renewable Fuel Standards,” she said. “My gut is there will be no action on this until after the election.”

The Renewable Fuel Standards are established by the Environmental Protection Agency. Plants that meet these standards are eligible for Federal programs.

Great River Energy, the principle developer of the project, has been waiting for RFS approval before seeking financing for the corn-based ethanol plant.

If the approval is delayed until November, it is unlikely construction could start this year, Ova said.

JSDC Board members also got some salad after the meeting. Lance Brower, volunteer associated with Endless Harvest in Grasston, Minn., distributed lettuce from the test greenhouse.

The greenhouse is testing growing methods for lettuce as part of the research for a proposed $10 million commercial greenhouse operation planned for Jamestown.

Brower said the quality of the lettuce was less than hoped because the greenhouse had been without electricity due to weather.

“The lettuce is still higher quality than what you get in stores now,” he said.

Brower distributed the lettuce as a demonstration the project was capable of producing a high-quality product.

Sun reporter Keith Norman can be reached at 701-952-8452 or by email at knorman@jamestownsun.com

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