Minnesota is excelling in its efforts to prepare students for workforce recruitment in the current competitive business climate, even with classes and graduation ceremonies moving online due to the coronavirus pandemic. Scoring high among most educational categories, Minnesota students are graduating ahead of the game and ready for immediate employment...Continue Reading

After ending 2019 strong, Aubright hit the ground running at the start of this year. The St. Cloud-based company, which is served by Great River Energy member-owner cooperative Stearns Electric Association, anticipated another successful year and planned to leverage its growth from 2019. In early January, however, the world started hearing report...Continue Reading

Minnesota Commissioner of Employment and Economic Development told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS the toughest day on the job, in recent months, was the day Gov. Tim Walz issued the first 'stay at home' order. "You know, Mike Tyson once said, 'everyone has a plan until you get punched in the mouth'," said Grove...Continue Reading

The coronavirus pandemic has caused more economic disruption than the U.S. has seen since the Great Depression. No one can say for sure what the landscape will look like as the economy recovers, but it’s clear that a lot of puzzle pieces won’t snap back into the same places a...Continue Reading

Economic development compliance is historically a long process, one that is typically managed over a multi-year time frame. Companies have negotiated incentives to help offset costs associated with growth and expansion and count on the economic benefits as part of their strategic growth plan — specifically, their plan for buildin...Continue Reading

Until an effective treatment is proven or a vaccination is widely distributed, we’ll continue to have more questions than answers regarding a succinct definition or timing of the “new normal.” However, what we do know now is that the COVID-19 crisis has exposed the over-reliance on just-in-time global supply chains...Continue Reading

Cars are on the road again, and increased travel adds up to more gasoline being used across the U.S. Because of gasoline/ethanol blends, ethanol use is also on the rise. “This is really good news as far as what is going on with the fuel/transportation sector, as well as ethanol,” sai...Continue Reading

The MNOpportunithy Collaborative will present an Opportunity Zone workshop from 1:30-3 p.m. on June 9 via Zoom link. The MNOppCo team will discuss the importance of a shared community vision for equitable development and discuss how opportunity zones can advance recovery and resilience. Click here to read full article from Business North. Continue Reading

USDA Rural Development has taken a number of immediate actions to help rural residents, businesses and communities affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Rural Development will keep our customers, partners and stakeholders continuously updated as more actions are taken to better serve rural America. Visit www.rd.usda.gov/coronavirus for information on Rural Developmen...Continue Reading

On May 27, 2020, the House passed the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act by 417-1, which attempts to ease restrictions on small businesses as they seek loan forgiveness under the Paycheck Protection Program authorized by the CARES Act. The House bill comes on the heels of new Treasury Department “Interim Final Rules” o...Continue Reading

Kraus-Anderson Construction Company has completed the $10.8 million Cambridge-Isanti Woodland Campus for Cambridge-Isanti Schools at 1700 305th NE Ave. in Cambridge, Minnesota. Designed by Wold Architects and Engineers, the Cambridge-Isanti Woodland Campus will house more than 100 students in the ALC, Transitions and Setting IV programs. Click here to read full article fro...Continue Reading

NISSWA, MINN. – There will be no throw pillows on the beds at Grand View Lodge resort this summer. No magazines on the coffee tables. No daily visits from housekeeping staff. Before a new guest arrives, a team will sanitize every room with an electrostatic sprayer, lightly dousing toilets, sinks an...Continue Reading

With most of the world abiding by stay-at-home and similar restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, more people are turning to e-commerce solutions for groceries. Coupled with a growing need to increase pharmaceutical capabilities in the United States, cold storage — an area of industrial warehousing that has been poised for growt...Continue Reading

The Mesabi Iron Range wasn’t the first iron range to be mined in Minnesota, but it has arguably been the most prolific. Since the 1890s, the Mesabi has produced iron ore that boosted the national economy, contributed to the Allied victory in World War II, and cultivated a multiethnic regiona...Continue Reading

With so many school districts around the country working feverishly to implement distance learning programs, there is no better time to talk about the digital divide and a student’s right to education. While the term "digital divide" can be used to describe many instances in which marginalized kids and those tha...Continue Reading

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced that the Department is making available up to $1 billion in loan guarantees to help rural businesses meet their working capital needs during the coronavirus pandemic. Additionally, agricultural producers that are not eligible for USDA Farm Service Agency loans may receive fundin...Continue Reading

Required Letter of Intent Due: Not fewer than thirty (30) days prior to the application deadline. What does this program do? This program provides loan guarantees up to $250 million to assist in the development, construction and retrofitting of new and emerging technologies. These technologies are: advanced biofuels, renewable chemicals and biobased products. Click here to read ful...Continue Reading

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) awarded nine workforce development grants totaling nearly $1.3 million under the Minnesota Jobs Skills Partnership (MJSP) to assist businesses and educational institutions in training workers to keep high-quality jobs in the state. These grants were awarded in early March 2020, prio...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers and officials are crafting proposals to push American companies to move operations or key suppliers out of China that include tax breaks, new rules, and carefully structured subsidies. Interviews with a dozen current and former government officials, industry executives and members of Congress show widespread discussion...Continue Reading

John Schwanke knows his family-owned manufacturing company is not the sexiest of trades. Another company has a nagging problem with a product, and Lakeview Industries solves it. Two parts squeaking together? The Carver company makes a foam cushion. Leaking fluids? Lakeview makes a rubber gasket. Too much vibration, or too wea...Continue Reading

Temperance Traders Liquors and gift shop and Temperance Traders Cabins in Schroeder have been sold. Both businesses were owned and operated by Rick and Peggy Anderson of Schroeder. Click here to read full article from Cook County News Herald. Continue Reading

Businesses looking to move operations to new geographic locations face multiple challenges in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Investors are looking to diversify their global footprint amid the Covid-19 pandemic in an attempt to eliminate concentration risks. However, transforming a company’s operations and deciding on new site locations requires extr...Continue Reading

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) has awarded $681,000 in grants to Alexandria, the Duluth Airport Authority and Elbow Lake. “These grants will create jobs and expand economic development opportunities in the Greater Minnesota communities receiving these grants,” said DEED Commissioner Steve Grove. “This is an important investmen...Continue Reading