AD: Will more companies be re-shoring or near-shoring as a result of the global pandemic? Jensen: For certain, most companies are closely examining the options available to them to avoid future supply chain interruptions. Part of the challenge of making a decision on a future sourcing direction is that this story isn’t over...Continue Reading

In times of economic struggle — such as the recession that abruptly arrived with the COVID-19 pandemic — analysts and advocates promote an array of options as effective tools for stimulating the economy. One of the most frequently suggested options is infrastructure spending. Proponents of infrastructure spending during dire economi...Continue Reading

After the property database, one of the most visited features on Northland Connection website is its table of leading employers in the region. This table is more of a challenge to keep up than one might expect. Tools such as AtoZ Databases (available through resources such as the Duluth Public Library) and its competitors i...Continue Reading

The global pandemic has upended the labor market and dramatically and suddenly reversed U.S. economic expansion. COVID-19, especially, has caused U.S. manufactures to face unprecedented labor challenges. With COVID-19 and the need for social distancing, these shortages are escalating. Many factories have shuttered to protect workers and prevent COVID-19’s spread. Eve...Continue Reading

Even amid a crisis, business attraction activity continues at a steady pace in northeast Minnesota. Covid-19 has upended global supply chains, and companies are seeking options closer to home. Workforce concerns shrink when unemployment clears 10%, and proactive communities have recognized that, now that the initial chaos of Covid-19 respons...Continue Reading

The Brookings Institution hosted a webinar on June 10 titled “Mitigating the Economic Impacts of COVID-19 in Rural Areas.” Moderator Tracy Hadden Loh, a Brookings Institution Fellow, engaged three experts on rural economies in looking back at the pandemic’s effect on two small towns and across rural America, and ho...Continue Reading

Somewhere between your umpteenth Zoom meeting of the month and the latest webinar on the economic impacts of COVID-19, this thought probably crossed your mind: “How long will I be working from home?” While an exact answer to that question still eludes most companies, the effects of remote working are startin...Continue Reading

As the coronavirus pandemic disrupted global supply chains, a new report released in April by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) urged the U.S. government to develop a national industrial strategy to strengthen the competitive position of advanced, traded-sector industries that are “too critical to fail.” “Even before this pandemic...Continue Reading

Few implications of the COVID-19 pandemic are as consequential to global manufacturers as disruptions to their supply chains. For many, this is the most consequential by far. Supply chains are always a work in progress as such market variables as transportation costs, tariffs and trade agreements force logistics managers t...Continue Reading

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is moving forward with plans for electric car incentives aimed to spur interest throughout the state. The agency is working toward a final proposal that includes requirements for manufacturers to deliver a minimum number of electric cars to auto dealers. It would also promote the start-u...Continue Reading

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Bette Brand today announced that USDA released a final rule to allow the use of funds under select programs to help expand access to broadband services for America’s rural businesses and residents. Effective immediately, entities may be eligibl...Continue Reading

OAKLAND, Calif. (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's GOOGL.O Google aims to power its data centers and offices using solely carbon-free electricity by 2030, its chief executive told Reuters, building on its previous goal of matching its energy use with 100% renewable energy. The “stretch goal,” as CEO Sundar Pichai described it, will force Googl...Continue Reading

A new $1.3 million, eight-plane hangar has been completed at the Richard B. Helgeson Airport in Two Harbors. Kraus-Anderson in Duluth was originally scheduled to begin construction of the municipal airport's 11,726-foot hangar in the fall, but it was put on hold by the Federal Aviation Administration due to cold weather...Continue Reading

The Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) is excited to announce Catalina Valencia as our new director of Business Development. Catalina, who has 20 years of professional business development experience in a broad range of settings, joins DEED on September 9 and will lead a team of six busines...Continue Reading

Consequences of COVID-19 bolstered data centers in the first half of 2020, making the sector one of commercial real estate’s most durable amid the pandemic, according to CBRE’s latest North American Data Center Trends Report. The coronavirus-related increase in remote work as well as the rise in streaming content viewership left data center...Continue Reading

Minnesota farmers who want to add safety equipment to their on-farm grain storage facilities can now apply for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s (MDA) new grain storage facility safety cost-share program. The program reimburses up to 75 percent of the cost to buy, ship and install eligible safety equipment for on-far...Continue Reading

With a $1.6 million grant from the United States Economic Development Authority under the coronavirus relief bill, Region Five Development Commission will capitalize and administer Revolving Loan Funds. The RLFs will provide critical gap financing to small businesses and entrepreneurs adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic in Crow Wing, Cass...Continue Reading

With ever-increasing amounts of day-to-day activity taking place online, even more so under the COVID-19 pandemic, demand from large and small companies is driving robust growth in the data center segment. That’s making it an increasingly attractive investment play for real estate buyers looking for stability and yield.    “The pandemic has allowe...Continue Reading

The Minnesota Public Facilities Authority (PFA) today announced $122 million in loans and grants in the first half of 2020 for water and infrastructure projects in 24 communities throughout Minnesota. “COVID-19 hasn’t postponed the need for Minnesotans to protect one of our most prized natural resources, our water,” said PFA Chai...Continue Reading

On August 7, Governor Tim Walz issued a proclamation congratulating 23 cities, townships and counties across Minnesota as telecommuter friendly communities and declared August 7, 2020, as Telecommuter Forward! Day in the State of Minnesota. Among the 23 named was Cook County. The communities commit to coordinating and partnering with broadband providers...Continue Reading

Today, Governor Tim Walz issued a proclamation congratulating 23 cities, townships and counties across Minnesota as telecommuter-friendly communities and declared August 7, 2020 as Telecommuter Forward! Day in the State of Minnesota. The communities commit to coordinating and partnering with broadband providers, realtors, economic development professionals, employers, employees, and othe...Continue Reading

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the risks inherent in the global supply chain, particularly the worldwide reliance on China for medical supplies. The supply chain turbulence experienced during the pandemic undoubtedly will impact future business decisions, extending beyond medicine to other industries, including electronics, aerospace, automobiles, defense, consumer products, and technology. Incentivizin...Continue Reading

Life Link III plans to expand operations with the opening of an air medical helicopter base, 58.3 miles north of Minneapolis-St Paul, in Rush City, Minnesota. The new base will be located at the Rush City, Minnesota, Airport in partnership with Lakes Region EMS, and provides needed critical care resources to thi...Continue Reading

The Northland Foundation awarded 140 grants totaling $885,000 from April through June 2020 to nonprofit organizations, school districts, and Tribal Nations in northeastern Minnesota to help support programming aligned with Northland’s strategic focus areas. All but a dozen grants were made in response to the health and economic crisis created b...Continue Reading