Vergas is leading the way as a Minnesota GreenStep City, proudly achieving Level 2 recognition. Powered by committed local leadership and a community eager to roll up its sleeves, the GreenStep City framework is helping Vergas turn big sustainability goals into real, on-the-ground progress, one step at a time.
“Why not us?”
Those three words represent a turning point for the City of Vergas, and the launch of one of the most comprehensive resilience and energy projects currently underway in rural Minnesota.
Located in Ottertail County, the City of Vergas is leading an ambitious effort to strengthen local preparedness, transform building infrastructure and deepen commitment to the natural environment. With support from the University of Minnesota’s Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships (RSDP) and Empowering Small Minnesota Communities (ESMC), the project is quickly gaining momentum.
Small-town feel
“People here take care of each other,” says Vergas’ Mayor, Julie Bruhn.
As the leading elected official, Bruhn is working to help determine the direction for Vergas’ future, while also prioritizing the heart of the community.
“We like our small-town feel, and people here want to help preserve what makes Vergas unique.”
With a downtown mainstreet framed in historic buildings and a claim to fame in the form of a “World’s Largest Loon” sculpture, the town has no shortage of character. Yet, the same features that give the town its charm can also present challenges. Like, Bruhn notes, inefficient and aging infrastructure, or limited tax capacity.
In 2023, Julie Bruhn attended a conference where communities across the state shared how new energy investments were paying off. The message from other cities was clear: clean energy options, like solar, are lowering costs and strengthening local budgets. Even though the other cities were larger and had more resources, Bruhn left inspired. With further research, Bruhn believed that with thoughtful planning and a supportive team, energy efficiency could make a real difference for her city, without compromising on what makes it special.
New support for a new path forward
To move these ideas forward, Bruhn and her staff turned to Central Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships. They submitted an RSDP Project Idea Brief that was selected, and they also applied to the Empowering Small Minnesota Communities (ESMC) program for additional support.
Through ESMC and connections made by Central RSDP executive director, Molly Zins, the City of Vergas partnered with the University of Minnesota’s College of Design’s Center for Sustainable Building Research (CSBR) to gather data needed for smart decisions for the future.
CSBR architects and researchers benchmarked energy and water use, assessed building enclosures, conducted thermal testing, and modeled scenarios for improvements. Their technical work, coupled with hands-on support from the Central Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) coordinator Heidi Auel, created an actionable roadmap that the city can use to weigh options and make informed choices about upgrades.
“It was a really comprehensive picture of our buildings. They looked at energy use, air leakage, and opportunities for improvements,” Mayor Bruhn explained. “All of that data will help us tell the story to our community about why this work matters.”
Throughout both projects, Zins made sure the partnership and communication between Vergas and the University ran smoothly. She coordinated project management and capitalized on opportunities that arose along the way, including hiring a Humphrey School graduate student and coordinating collaboration with the West Central Initiative Climate Action program to develop what is now called the Community Resilience and Energy Plan.
Discover a community like no other
Alongside the technical work, Vergas' leadership took time to listen, surveying residents to better understand what mattered most to them. One theme emerged again and again: a deep commitment to community and a genuine willingness to collaborate.
That spirit of collaboration continues through the city’s new Resiliency Advisory Board, a group of community volunteers helping to continue guiding the progress in ways that reflect the community’s priorities. The alignment between residents, staff, and city leadership is especially remarkable in a community of Vergas’ size, according to Zins.
“It’s amazing what Vergas is accomplishing,” she says. “They have visionary leadership, an engaged staff, and a city council that works collaboratively.”
While the city’s motto may be, “A town like no other,” Zins notes that Vergas’ approach offers a model for other communities. “When trust, leadership, and local voices move in the same direction, the results can be extraordinary. Understanding how a small community does this kind of work is important for replicating it elsewhere,” she says.
The story of Vergas is, at its heart, a story of possibility. It shows how a small, rural city can use data, partnerships and commitment to build something transformative. Vergas is proving that innovation does not depend on population size. It depends on the willingness and capacity to pursue answers to the big questions, like “Why not us?”
Every step counts
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