Leadership Transition at Red Wing Port Authority Announced

Kyle Klatt Succeeds Retiring Executive Director Dan Rogness

Red Wing, Minn., October 27, 2021 – The Red Wing Port Authority, Red Wing’s primary economic development agency and the city’s administrator of commercial waterfront leases, announced today that Kyle Klatt will succeed Dan Rogness as its executive director.

Klatt, a Red Wing native, joined the Port Authority in September in anticipation of Rogness’s retirement. Klatt joins the Red Wing Port Authority from the city of Rosemount where he had served as a senior planner since November 2016. Prior to his role in Rosemount, Klatt served as a community development director for city of Lake Elmo for eight years and spent seven years in a similar position in Lake City.

“I’m delighted to have joined the Port Authority team in my beloved hometown and look forward to continuing the great work that Dan and his team spearheaded with support from the city, state and Red Wing community during his years as executive director,” said Klatt.  “I look forward to working with Shari Chorney, Port Authority manager, on projects and programs that she has led, with more opportunities ahead of us.”

Rogness joined the Red Wing Port Authority in March 2017 as community development director and executive director for the Port Authority. He had previously been the community development director for the city of Prior Lake. Rogness’s career in planning and development roles for local governments also includes positions with the Dakota County Community Development Agency and the cities of Austin, Northfield and Rosemount.

During his tenure with the city of Red Wing, Rogness has been involved with a wide range of transformative projects. Among them are the new state highway bridge spanning the Mississippi; the reconstruction of the Levee Park Dock to increase riverboat docking capacity; improvements to trails, overlooks and plazas at Barn Bluff/He Mni Can in collaboration with local tribal leaders; replacement of the Memorial Park overlook, and the start of revitalization work in the city’s West End District, including completion of a new pedestrian and bicycle bridge connecting the area to Bay Point Park.  Rogness experienced business and housing growth over the past five years.  Seeing impacts from the recent pandemic, the Port Authority supported Red Wing’s local economy by developing emergency financing programs that assisted over 100 businesses.

“My time in Red Wing has been enormously gratifying personally and professionally,” said Rogness. “I’m deeply grateful to all my city and Port Authority colleagues, the Port Authority board, City Council, and all those in the city, state and community for the dedication, support and professionalism they consistently displayed as we worked together to make Red Wing an outstanding place to live, start or grow a business or to work.”

Rogness has been serving as Special Projects Manager for the city since September 13 to facilitate the leadership transition. His last day working for the city will be December 24.

“On behalf of the city, I want to thank Dan for his outstanding service to Red Wing and wish him the best in his retirement,” said City Council Administrator Kay Kuhlmann. “The city of Red Wing has been very well served by Dan’s leadership at the Port Authority. We also welcome Kyle to the Port Authority and look forward to building on the progress of the past several years under his leadership.”

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About the Red Wing Port Authority
The purpose of the Port Authority is to act as the city’s primary economic development agency and administer commercial waterfront leases. The Port Authority represents the city’s continued interest in job creation and economic growth. To learn more visit http://www.redwingportauthority.org/

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