Minnesota Business Developments

by Rhonda Mix- rhonda.mix@state.mn.us
December 2009

Northern

The Grand Rapids Economic Development Authority received a $48,750 Contamination Cleanup Grant through the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) to investigate a 223-acre site that housed an oriented strand board manufacturing facility. The site will be redeveloped into the Itasca Eco-Industrial Park, which is projected to create 70 new jobs and increase the tax base by $117,875.

The city of Virginia received a $207,562 DEED Contamination Cleanup Grant to clean up a 2.6-acre contaminated site. The former rail spur will be developed into a 111,949-square-foot, 15-unit facility for homeless young people ages 16 to 21. The project will create two new jobs and increase tax revenue by $14,800.

The city of Hermantown received $22,125 in DEED investigation funds for the former Cich Autobody site. This 4.2-acre site, formerly used for auto salvage operations, will be redeveloped into a small business that makes hospice care devices for access to buildings. Four jobs will be created and taxes increased by $3,505.

The city of Park Rapids received $22,275 in DEED investigation funds for a 0.43-acre site that is potentially contaminated with petroleum. The site will be redeveloped for retail and food venues and for civic uses. The project will result in 17 new jobs and raise the tax base by $25,400.

The Duluth Economic Development Authority received $48,000 through DEED to investigate a 9.88-acre site that had been the site of an electrical equipment manufacturer, a scrap yard, and other industrial entities. The proposed project includes a temporary-use boat facility for 50 to 75 vessels. Three jobs are expected to be created.

Central

The St. Cloud Housing and Redevelopment Authority received a $608,422 DEED Contamination Cleanup Grant to clean up a 3.11-acre site. The former residential and commercial site will be redeveloped into a multi-use building containing 130 units of student housing, a St. Cloud State University welcome center, and 19,800 square feet of commercial space. The project is expected to create 48 jobs and to generate $50,173 in new tax revenue.

Twin Cities Metro Area

The new $138.9 million Maple Grove Hospital has opened. The 225,000-square-foot facility is located just east of Interstate Highway 94 at Maple Grove Parkway. The hospital currently has 30 patient rooms but is able to increase that to 90 with demand. With a current staff of 200, the hospital expects to double that number by the end of 2010.

Lake Elmo-based Rasmussen College is adding an eighth campus in Minnesota. Construction has begun on the 3.67-acre site located in Blaine. The 25,000-square-foot facility is slated for completion in the spring of 2010. The other seven campuses in Minnesota are located in Eagan, Eden Prairie, Brooklyn Park, Lake Elmo/Woodbury, Mankato, St. Cloud, and Moorhead.

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development has awarded a $204,000 grant to support lean training for 345 employees at Eden Prairie-based Stratasys. The funding was awarded under the agency’s Minnesota Job Skills Partnership Program. Two Minneapolis-based consulting and training firms, Enterprise Minnesota and AQS Management Systems, will develop customized classes for Stratasys. AQS will train three business specialists from Enterprise Minnesota to teach employees about project management, process mapping, work flow, and other areas related to creating workplace efficiencies. A facilitator’s guidebook will be developed for future training.

Smiths Medical plans to close its facility in Waukesha, Wis., by July and hire about 50 new workers at its Arden Hills location where it manufactures a range of infusion pumps, devices used to deliver medication and other treatments to patients.

Construction has begun on the third phase of a 133-acre redevelopment site in Brooklyn Park. The 26,682-square-foot building, called Shops at Village Creek, is located at Zane Avenue and Brooklyn Boulevard. About half of the new facility will be occupied by Hennepin County Medical Center, which plans to open a new family clinic there in the fall of 2010.

Southern

A new business, Genesis Poly Recycling Inc., is setting up shop in Mankato. With the support of a federal stimulus loan program, the company has signed a 10-year lease on a 97,095-square-foot industrial building located at 480 Industrial Road. Planning to employ about 40 people initially and about 115 in two years, Genesis will recycle plastics that are used in the agriculture industry such as tarps that go over hay.

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