St. Ben’s and St. John’s alumni are helping revitalize their central Minnesota town

ST. JOSEPH, MINN. – For years, this was a small, quiet college town, home to the College of St. Benedict and nearby St. John’s University, along with a few bars and a coffee shop.

But over the last decade, the central Minnesota city of 7,000 people has transformed, sprouting a new generation of businesses, entrepreneurs and energy downtown — and the colleges' alumni have played a large part in many of those new projects.

The city now hosts a brewery, distillery, cidery and several boutiques. Two new upscale restaurants — including Krewe, a semifinalist for the prestigious James Beard award this year — line its streets, along with a bakery, a yoga studio and new housing.

But as is often true in college towns, St. Joe’s future is intertwined with the fate of the two liberal arts institutions, which have seen enrollment fall significantly over the last decade. Between 2014 and 2023, enrollment declined by nearly 1,000 students, from a combined 3,800 students to 2,900 students.

“We’ve probably hit a new norm,” Kara Kolomitz, chief operating officer for both colleges, said about the lower numbers, adding that the schools are still robust. “We don’t see it as a deficit of any kind.”

Jon McGee, a St. John’s grad and local school leader who has written two higher education books, said the relationship between a college town and a college can be “almost magical” when everything works.

“This is really a case where a rising tide lifts all boats,” McGee said. “A strong St. Joe creates a base of a strong St. Ben’s and St. John’s.”

Business owners say they’re drawn to the close-knit town’s camaraderie, especially among fellow entrepreneurs, combined with the city’s efforts to streamline the process of setting up shop. The new businesses also offer alumni a way to stay connected to their alma maters.

“When I’m in St. Joe, it’s like stepping back in time in all of the best ways,” said Shannon Wiger, a St. Ben’s alumna who has bought and refurbished six old buildings in town so far. “The sense of community and collaboration that exists in that town is really, in my opinion, what sets it apart.”

As enrollment has dropped in recent years, St. Ben’s and St. John’s have increased collaboration, partly to save money. They now share a president for the first time and several senior staff members. In 2023, the schools phased out eight majors and nine minors as a cost-cutting measure; about 20 faculty positions were also cut via attrition in recent years. The schools have 2,800 students this year.

Students today are looking for safe, sustainable communities with a high quality of life, Kolomitz said. People sometimes underestimate the importance of the surrounding area when looking at colleges.

“This town launches our students with a firmer foundation than a sterile metro location ever could,” she said.

The growth of St. Joseph’s downtown isn’t a complete surprise, as the city climbed from 4,000 to 6,500 people between 1990 and 2010, according to census data.

Some new construction and a handful of businesses kickstarted progress over a decade ago. Mill Stream Shops and Lofts, which features condos, opened in 2009. Italian restaurant Bello Cucina arrived three years later, bringing new people downtown. Then Bad Habit Brewing Company opened in 2015, moving to a bigger space after several years. The brewery has five owners, including three St. John’s alumni.

The entrepreneurs first considered St. Cloud as a location but realized St. Joseph had an untapped market in its population of 25-to-45-year-olds.

“It was so popular to open [breweries] at the time that if we were going to do it, it had to be in the right location and we also had to have a pretty strong strategy to differentiate ourselves,” said Mike Thielman, one of the owners.

Thielman said they were concerned about underage drinking when they started, adding security and cameras. But he said most students don’t visit unless they’re with their parents; the brewery has also become a hotspot for alumni and families visiting for football games.

Then in 2023, three Johnnies opened Obbink Distilling. Alumni Adam Weber, Luke Inveiss and Ian Scherber, along with partner Gregg Obbink, named their distillery after Obbink, who retired from a job working on NASA spacecraft and has experimented with aging whiskey at a faster pace than usual — about 30 days.

The group chose St. Joseph because the city was easy to work with and Obbink’s wife was from the area. The distillery hosts events and classes, including the chemistry and entrepreneurship clubs from the colleges. The distillery brings in students when they’re with their parents or on a date, Weber said.

Weber said St. Joseph was still pretty mellow when he graduated in 2012, but he saw a change several years ago. Now, St. Joseph has a “craft, artisanal vibe” and he’s heard comparisons to Stillwater, he said.

“The energy just feels different,” he said.

Amid the changes, the city still has “that sense of nostalgic identity” and has retained many of the old-school haunts students remember, he said. Longtime businesses the Middy, a bar, and Bo Diddley’s, a sandwich shop, are both owned by alumni.

Andrew Mooney, a 2022 St. John’s graduate, recently joined the City Council. He said he’s looking forward to helping the city grow even more and being a liaison between the city and the schools.

“We share a lot of the same interests, just how we get there is a pain point at times,” he said.

Two former Bennies are also creating new spaces downtown.

Wiger, the building renovator, is fixing up an old Ford Model T showroom that will house a clinic, a med spa and a salon. She pointed out the building’s historic elements: the lattice-like trusses, some of which will remain exposed, and parts of the ceiling patched with pieces of train boxcars after a fire.

“I really have more interested people wanting to be in St. Joe than properties available,” she said, attributing it to a desire for unique spaces that don’t look like strip malls.

Wiger said the city has become a destination, a place where visitors can spend a weekend exploring.

Another one of her buildings, an old fire station, is a women’s clothing store called White Peony, where St. Ben’s students work, shop and model the clothes. Wiger said she believes St. Joseph’s liveliness is a draw for prospective and current students and their families.

“I think it provides an opportunity for families to come and spend the weekend, for siblings to see, ‘Wow, this town is really fun,’” she said.

BriAnne Hern, a Bennie and former educator, is opening The House Food and Tap with her husband, Craig, on March 11; they also want to attract students and their families.

They snapped up the last available lot on Minnesota Street, the town’s main thoroughfare, and decided to build a gathering space, which many residents said in a survey they needed.

The “micro food hall” will have three restaurants serving burgers, pizza and Hawaiian food as well as a coffee shop and a wall of 30 on-tap beers, ciders and wines. Almost all the House’s employees are college students.

Hern said she sees Benedictine values — those espoused in the Rule of Benedict, an important text for both colleges and their monastic communities — in action in St. Joseph.

“Hospitality and stewardship, right?” she said. “And community living; those are things that people [here] are very proud of.”

Hern, who grew up in St. Joseph, has two sons attending St. John’s and lives a mile away, hopes the city’s vitality will encourage more alumni to stay after they graduate. There are a few locals who aren’t thrilled about all the new development, she said, but she aims to win them over.

“My hope is that someday they’ll come in and go, ‘Okay, this isn’t so bad,‘” and enjoy a meal," she said. “We’re here, and we’re not going anywhere.”