Minnesota Business Developments

by Rhonda Mix - rhonda.mix@state.mn.us
October  2010

Northern

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) has announced an $85,050 Low Income Worker Training Program grant to support a partnership of the Northwest Indian Opportunities Industrialization Center (NWOIC), Northwest Technical College (both located in Bemidji), and the Minnesota Job Skills Partnership (MJSP) to train 45 unemployed individuals in the health care field. Under the grant, 45 lower-income trainees will enroll in a 50-hour NWOIC classroom and lab program that combines Environmental Services Technician and Food Services Technician courses. After successfully completing the courses, trainees will earn a certificate and be eligible to participate in pre-employment skill development activities and computer training at
the NWOIC.

Central

Construction is complete on the new Bethesda Wellness Center in Willmar. Located next to the Bethesda Pleasant View skilled nursing facility, the new wellness center focuses on wellness for people age 55 and older. The $6 million project includes:

• A gym with exercise equipment that is tailored for the muscular, joint, and mobility issues that can appear with age
• A multipurpose room for classes in Pilates and yoga and for meetings
• A spa that offers massage therapy
• A café and juice bar

Twin Cities Metro

A new medical office building is under construction in Savage. The 33,778-square-foot, two-story facility will be anchored by clinics affiliated with Minneapolis-based Allina Hospitals & Clinics – Crossroads Prior Lake Clinic and the Quello Clinic. It is slated to open in July 2011.

The business at Polar Semiconductor Inc. is growing, so the company plans to build a 98,000-square-foot addition to its 213,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Bloomington. The company plans to hire 300 employees, which will increase the total number of workers at the Bloomington site to 837.

The Minneapolis Community and Technical College plans to build a $10 million student center which includes 15,800 square feet of new construction and 21,200 square feet of renovated space. The project will create new and improved space for student lounges, performances, student life staff offices, student clubs and organizations, support spaces, meeting rooms, a convenience store, and a café, coffee shop, and juice bar.

The accounting firm of Deloitte in Minneapolis plans to expand by at least 120 new employees. The hiring at Minneapolis Deloitte, the Twin Cities’ largest accounting firm, and other Deloitte locations in the country is viewed as a sign that business activity is growing.

Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Market Inc. plans to open another location in Minnesota. The natural and organic supermarket chain plans to open in Minnetonka next year in the site formerly occupied by Circuit City near Ridgedale Center. In 2012 Whole Foods expects to open another location in Edina. This would bring the total number of Minnesota Whole Foods stores to four. It currently operates a store in Minneapolis and a store in St. Paul.

Southern

The Mayo Clinic in Rochester plans to build the state’s first proton beam radiation therapy center for cancer patients. According to Mayo officials, the new center will use a technology called pencil beam scanning, which allows greater control over radiation doses, shorter treatment times, and fewer side effects. The radiation therapy is delivered by machines that are nearly three stories tall. The $188 million center will have four treatment rooms with the first room expected to open by late 2014 or early 2015. The other rooms are expected to open six to 12 months later. The project will create about 500 construction jobs, and once completed the center will employ about 120 new staff members.

Groundbreaking occurred on the first building at the Elk Run biobusiness park in Pine Island. The 50,400-square-foot building is slated for completion in August 2011. Elk Run is a 2,325-acre project that includes a biobusiness park, a wellness community, housing, and other commercial space.

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