Anhorn’s: New and improved for next generation

Tom and Olga Anhorn probably wouldn’t recognize their little 14-foot-wide store – though the front door has “literally always been in the same place since back in 1949.”

That’s a point of pride for their grandson, John Anhorn, who held a ribbon-cutting Aug. 7 for a $900,000 fueling remodel project at Anhorn’s Gas & Tire in Medford.

“This community has supported the Anhorn family, and we appreciate this so much. This allows not just this third-generation guy, but possibly a fourth generation,” he said, pointing to his daughter Julia and son Thomas, a rising sophomore and seventh-grader, respectively.

The project was made possible through two grants: The Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program, through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and a Minnesota Department of Agriculture AGRI Biofuels Infrastructure grant.

“What Anhorn’s does is just phenomenal,” said Minnesota Sen. John Jasinski (R-Faribault). “They are the backbone of this community and have been for many years.”

He supported funding the AGRI program, he said, “to help stations like this to compete with the Casey’s and Kwik Trips… to help a small business with costs that are just so exorbitant. This program allows a 50-plus year business in Medford, Minnesota, population 1,500, to survive, and it’s great to see it happen.”

Rep. Tom Sexton, R-Waseca, wrote one of many letters of support for Anhorn’s project – but had a hard time whittling it down to just one page.

“I’m like, he and his family do so much in the community, that’s essentially to this community,” he said. Even after his staff “played with the font” size, it was still more than a page long.

“It was such an honor to write a letter for somebody who supports the community so well, but we can see it paid off,” Sexton said. “Everything you do keeps you here, and that’s exactly what we want. We want our businesses to stay here, in Greater Minnesota, and thrive, and you’ll be able to do that, John.”

 Anhorn learned of the grant opportunities through Fueling Minnesota, “and I kind of hesitated a little bit, because I didn’t know if it was the right fit for me.”

It was, so Anhorn hired a grant writer, planned the size and scope of the pump and tank replacement with B&H Petroleum, of Mankato, and started putting the pieces together.

That included the funding, through First State Banke of Red Wing-Medford Branch; as well as Cole’s Electric, of Owatonna; Dietz Construction, of Owatonna, which did a massive concrete pour; and several letters of recommendation, including Sexton’s.

“It’s important for this small town,” said Beth Jackson, Medford city administrator. She wrote letters of support on behalf of herself and Mayor Danny Thomas last year, “and beefed them up to resubmit them this year.”

Mick Ditlevson, of Blooming Prairie, works for the USDA – whose projections are that “more than 130,000 gallons per year will be sold as a result” of the Anhorn project.

“I’m excited to be here, to be able to have a great partner to the ag community in the surrounding area,” he said. “The more vehicles we have to be able to sell biofuels – it’s an incredible component of renewable energy, and I think one that makes the most sense in an area like this.”

The project, Anhorn said, “made me go from a liability to an asset. My old stuff was put in before we had all the containment systems that we do now,” protecting the surrounding soil and water from any potential risks.

“If anything leaks, it goes into a plastic containment … and each one has an alarm,” he explained.

The pump placement is new, too, tested repeatedly by Anhorn.

“I would drive in, then I’d back out, then I’d drive back in again, to make sure there was room” around and between the pumps for multiple vehicles, he said.

“I told everybody, when we’re doing this, if you question something, let’s have the conversation,” Anhorn said, “because I never want to turn dirt on this property again.

“I want to do it all right.”