Minnesota Business Developments

by Rhonda Mix - rhonda.mix@state.mn.us
January  2011

Northern

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) awarded a $300,000 Minnesota Job Skills Partnership grant to Itasca Community College to train 500 production, office, and maintenance workers from UPM/Blandin Paper Co. and Minnesota Power’s Rapids Energy Center in Grand Rapids. The three-year ergonomics program is designed to enhance the safety, performance, and satisfaction of workers and decrease medical costs, insurance rates, and equipment damage.

United Healthcare is closing its Waterloo, Iowa, call center this spring and adding 10 to 15 full-time customer service jobs to its Duluth call center. Currently, the Duluth call center employs 1,300 people.

Bed Bath & Beyond plans to open a store in Duluth this summer. It will be the retailer’s first store in that area. The 22,000-square-foot store will be located in the former Gander Mountain building on U.S. Route 53 in Duluth.

Central

DEED awarded a $260,000 grant under its Minnesota Job Skills Partnership to train employees from the St. Cloud and Crookston manufacturing plants of New Flyer of America Inc. Under the three-year grant, 777 employees will receive technical training and learn interpersonal and leadership skills in classes offered by Northland Community and Technical College and St. Cloud Technical and Community College.

Twin Cities Metro

To keep up with a growing demand for products and services related to financial security, Northwestern Mutual plans to hire 265 people this year to work at two of its local offices in Minneapolis. Of the 265 new hires, 90 positions will be for financial representatives and 175 will be positions for financial representative interns that could move into a full-time financial representative positions.

Regions Hospital plans to begin construction this spring on a $36 million mental health building at its downtown St. Paul campus. The 100-bed facility is slated for completion by 2013.

The Nerdery, a web development company in Bloomington, grew from 101 employees at the beginning of 2010 to 183 employees currently and hopes to hire more than 100 people this year. The company is currently undergoing its sixth major expansion, doubling its space to 44,625 square feet. The project is slated for completion by April 1.

Chase plans to open a Chase Homeownership Center in Minneapolis where borrowers can meet with center employees to discuss options for saving their home from foreclosure. This will be their first center in Minnesota.

Wal-Mart plans to build a 150,000-square-foot supercenter in Lakeville this year. Currently, Wal-Mart has about 60 stores in Minnesota, including 48 supercenters.

Southern

AGCO Corp. plans a $14 million expansion of its manufacturing facility in Jackson. The project includes a 75,000-square-foot expansion of its plant and construction of a visitor center with a showroom, dining area, and movie theater. A global company that manufactures various brands of high-powered agricultural tractors, AGCO plans to add more than 100 employees and retain the existing 900 jobs at the Jackson plant. The project is slated for completion in late 2011.

After a record-setting year in 2010, Hormel plans to break ground in March for the expansion of its corporate office in Austin. The expansion includes a conference room, an auditorium, and a break room. The company also intends to add more jobs. The expansion project is slated for completion by the winter of 2011.

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