From Main Street to City Hall

For the past 10 years, Paula Even Trenda has been the founder and CEO of Curly Girlz Candy, Inc. in Owatonna, and now wanted a change.
She certainly has changed career paths after being named the new West Concord city administrator.
“I would say my background is a little bit more unique,” Trenda said.
From business to government
Trenda began her career working in a number of different roles.
“Ms. Trenda brings over 20 years of management experience to the city,” West Concord Mayor Jeff McCool said. “Her background includes skills in administrative leadership, finance, business development, strategic planning, licensing, regulations, grant writing, facility management, human resources, entrepreneurship, communication, and public relations.”
Eventually, Trenda opened her own business on Main Street in Owatonna.
The business recently got to a point where it was time to either expand, to become more of a national brand, or find someone else to take over. She wasn’t necessarily interested in expanding the business further.
Trenda said she has some people who are interested in buying the recipes and said someone else would be able to take “what I’ve done with my business and make it more of a national chain than what I had the desire to do.”
Her lease on the building in Owatonna ends at the end of July, but on May 1, the retail location closed after she was offered the position with West Concord.
“I decided it was time for me to find something else,” Trenda said.
She said they are in the process of selling the recipes, and the brand, but said she doesn’t have a date in mind for when it will be finalized. According to McCool, she will be “starting part-time and transitioning to full-time this summer after the sale of her business.”
“We are taking our time because I want it to be the right person…or the right company, the right fit for us,” Trenda said.
‘Jack of All Trades’
Trenda always had an interest in politics and how government operates, but never thought of a career in either.
When she saw the posting for the West Concord position, she thought it met a lot of her background and skills and thought “it would be a good thing to apply for.”
Trenda said despite having no government experience, her work in nonprofits “transitions pretty similarly to a city administrator or a city manager type of job.”
For example, she said they worked with employees’ contracts, financial accounting, transparency, volunteers, and worked with the public.
“It’s just a different set of rules and regulations,” Trenda said.
As a business owner, she also thinks her skill set will help her in the new role. “I think if you ran a business, you’re familiar with being a jack of all trades,” Trenda said.
“I love a good challenge and when I was looking at the job description that West Concord had posted I was really intrigued by a lot of the tasks and it’s a lot of things I have experience in, in a non-governmental role,” Trenda said.
But Trenda said, “working with the city will have a little bit of a learning curve on some things,” saying her background will “definitely help the city function and become the best entity that it can be.”
PrioritiesFor City
On the top of the list of priorities for the city will be the future of the West Concord Ambulance, which since January has been unsuccessful in finding two full-time EMTS for the daytime shifts, forcing the city to suspend its ambulance for 60 hours a week, with Dodge Center Ambulance picking up the slack.
“That’s a big thing for them,” Trenda said.
She also noted finalizing summer street projects as a top priority.
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around what everything is for the main goals and stuff,” Trenda said.
She will be receiving some help from the consultant who was brought in to help run things while a search for a new city administrator was conducted.
“My first goal in the next three months is just to get a good feel for the city, all of the priorities for the next 12 to 18 months, work on keeping everything organized and as transparent as we can for the citizens of West Concord,” Trenda said.
Trenda said she will also be working with different departments within the city, and plans on getting to know the different businesses which make up the community.
She also will be working with the city council and McCool on “different things we can do to enhance the life of people who live in West Concord as well as maybe help bring some more business and vitality to main street.”