HETTINGER - With an orange harvest moon over the fields outside town, Hettinger had a summer night party for Bob Kudrna. It was also a party for itself.

Kudrna was celebrated for 10 years of work leading the community's economic development, the toughest job in any declining prairie town that has one.

Folks came down to the pretty Centennial Square, drawn by the irresistible smell of burgers sizzling on the grill to say "thanks" to the self-effacing, yet driven man who stayed a tough course, and by doing so, accomplished a great deal.

Kudrna, 66, retired from economic development work to become project director for Buffalo Creek Energy, a proposed 60-million-gallon ethanol plant that would be constructed at the site of the old Gascoyne mine west of Hettinger on Highway 12.

That plant is in the early stages of investor security filings and attorney papers, so Kudrna can't say much about it yet. If built, it would add to the overall idea that Hettinger's best hope for the future is to diversify outside of its agricultural economy.

In the tree-shaded square - one of his pet projects - it's possible to look out over much of what he's done this past decade.

Down and across the street is a branch of Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing, which has already expanded since moving into town and now employs 60 people.

Down another block is Dakota Cabin Quilts, where quilt kits are assembled and shipped all over the world. That business employs eight people.

Up the street the other way is an eight-plex townhouse project to provide intermediate housing options to people who might otherwise move elsewhere.

Kudrna said the work was fun, but it required patience and the willingness to stay with projects no matter the obstacles, the complexity of writing grants or the challenge of bringing players and financing together.

From start to finish, the Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing project alone took three years.

He said he needed all the help he got, and he got plenty from community and county leaders, who have led the way to a four-mill levy on the county's part and a $10,000 contribution from the city to pay salary and other costs.

Anthony Larson is president of the Hettinger development group. He looked up and down main street and said, with justifiable pride, "We're full. There's not a building without a plan or something going on."

Larson said the next step will be for Hettinger to participate in more regional planning to help ensure that neighboring communities - Mott and Regent, for example - enjoy success.

Magnus Meier was former president of the development group and said Kudrna's gifts were his ability to engage and mobilize the community.

"Once in a while he'd come to me and say, 'Geez, Magnus, I don't know if I want to do this,' and I'd say, 'It takes time,'" Meier said.

In many towns, the sand is running out of the hourglass as people age and few children are born or remain to replace them. Hettinger's estimated 2006 population was 2,332, compared to the 3,174 who lived there in 1990, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

By working to bring new jobs and a measure of hope, Kudrna put sand back into the top of the glass and bought Hettinger some precious time.

(Reach reporter Lauren Donovan at 888-303-5511 or lauren@;westriv.com.)