$7 million in loan and grant funding available to area businesses and communities that have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Our agency is committed to helping our region’s businesses and communities navigate through the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Taconite Area Business Relief Loan Program and th...Continue Reading

APPLE VALLEY, MN — Uponor North America’s Lakeville, MN distribution center now receives 100 percent of its electrical power from wind energy, and is the first major manufacturing customer to participate in Dakota Electric Association’s Wellspring Renewable Energy program, according to the company. Wellspring Renewable Energy subscribers pay a slight premiu...Continue Reading

The Ins and Outs of Data Centers I think one of the misconceptions about the data center business is that it’s a niche space. And the reality is it's become a very large industry and investment. And one of the things that we reference in talking to our clients is th...Continue Reading

JLL Capital Markets announced today that is has closed the $7.45 million sale of a 200,000-square-foot, single-tenant industrial distribution facility triple net leased to Mauser Packaging Solutions in the Minneapolis-area community of Cannon Falls, Minnesota. JLL marketed the property on behalf of the seller, and a private foreign investor purchased the asset. Click her...Continue Reading

The U.S. Forest Service announced it was anticipating updating the Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Lutsen Mountains Ski Area Expansion Project to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, April 28, 2020. As part of their master plan, and to ensure the stability o...Continue Reading

If you or your clients have incentives contracts, now is the time to examine your incentive agreements to understand the potential risks if your company is unable to perform key obligations. The first step in any crisis is to determine exactly what the problem is. Review your incentive agreements to confir...Continue Reading

Companies and communities are attempting to navigate through the current crisis, but as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, how will corporate location strategy be affected in the near and long term? Recessionary Forces The level of damage to the economy will depend on the spread of the virus, the healthcare respons...Continue Reading

Rock Health — the first venture fund dedicated to digital health — is a fitting prism for viewing the current and future world of digital health technologies, and how they’re navigating their own paths through the multinational life sciences and medical device ecosystem. As the COVID-19 pandemic has unfolded, they navigate...Continue Reading

Recent trade battles with China, Mexico, Canada, and Europe have reduced trade flows. Now, with the outbreak of COVID-19 severely impacting international commerce, many argue that globalization will soon be dead. Globalization is not dying. Rather, it’s evolving, and existing trends are accelerating. American companies and workers would be wise t...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

The Bluefin Bay Family of Resorts is under new ownership. Silver Bay native Joe Swanson and his business partner Pipasu Soni are the new owners. They are operating under the management company BFB Management, LLC. Dennis Rysdahl, co-founder and 36-year owner of Bluefin Bay Resorts, will remain in a leadership and advisin...Continue Reading

On July 2, 2020, U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Mike Braun (R-IN), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Doug Jones (D-AL) introduced the Rural Broadband Acceleration Act, bipartisan legislation that will bolster efforts to expand access to rural broadband nationwide and speed up the distribution of the Federal Communication Commission’...Continue Reading

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

The city of Virginia and the Virginia Economic Development Authority (VEDA) last week celebrated the commencement of its Downtown Redevelopment Grant Program with a ribbon cutting ceremony in front of Canelake’s Candies on main street. The new program is anticipated to renovate up to 12 commercial properties that are currently substandar...Continue Reading

Itasca Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), in partnership with the Entrepreneur Fund and the Blandin Foundation, acted quickly this spring to develop the Itasca Small Business Relief Fund (ISBRF), a loan program designed to offset the serious impacts small businesses within Itasca County have faced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Whe...Continue Reading

Twin Metals said Tuesday it has received the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Notice of Intent to proceed with scoping and preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for its proposed mine in northeast Minnesota. "The BLM notice initiates scoping and environmental review at the federal level, which will allow for the analysi...Continue Reading

“Every single county in Minnesota has a mine.” Heather Arends, mineral potential manager for the Minnesota DNR, knows the state’s mining industry spans far beyond the edges of its massive iron ore extractions and, as she notes, into all 87 counties. Minnesota has multiple thriving operations considered “mining,” whether it’s harvesting peat...Continue Reading

The U.S. Census Bureau has released its most detailed statistics on the U.S. manufacturing sector in more than two years. The stats come from the newest Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM), which contains info for survey year 2018. The ASM is not collected in Economic Census years — years ending in ‘2&rsquo...Continue Reading

 The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) today announced Small Cities Development Program (SCDP) grants totaling nearly $19 million for infrastructure and rehabilitation projects in 32 Minnesota cities. SCDP grants are part of the Community Development Block Grant Program administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developmen...Continue Reading

USDA Rural Development has $150 million - $3 million for Minnesota alone – in grants available through the Community Facilities Program to help rural communities continue their recovery from the devastating effects of natural disasters. Whether directly affected or located within the list of designated Minnesota communities, funds are available for up to $50,000 per application. Clic...Continue Reading

Most of what I learned about the legislative process, I learned from Schoolhouse Rock – I’m just a Bill. Maybe the part of special sessions was in the second verse. But here we are waiting for word on a special session. The broadband bill had passed in the Senate but was left on th...Continue Reading

St. Paul – The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) today announced Small Cities Development Program (SCDP) grants totaling nearly $19 million for infrastructure and rehabilitation projects in 32 Minnesota cities. SCDP grants are part of the Community Development Block Grant Program administered by the U.S. Department of Housing an...Continue Reading