The United States will need one billion square feet of industrial space over the next five years to keep up with e-commerce demand — one billion! Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, much attention has been paid to the future of office, but the industrial market is experiencing a similar tectonic shift. Prio...Continue Reading

Click here to view Coborn's growth over 100 years through pictures from the St. Cloud Times. Continue Reading

The challenges facing rural America are well-known and exhaustively documented. Chronically shrinking populations beget shrinking tax bases and shriveling public services. Town squares board up. Hospitals close. The most promising youth light out for elsewhere, just as lack of reliable internet now helps to quash most any notion of winnin...Continue Reading

This is not your father’s veggie burger — if he was ever near one. Today’s meat-alternative burgers and other foods are based on plant- or cell-based alternative proteins, and the global market for such products is exploding. According to analysis from Meticulous Research released in March, the alternative proteins marke...Continue Reading

Project expected to create and retain 525 jobs  ST. PAUL – The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) announced today that it has awarded a $2,000,000 grant to an infrastructure project in Faribault.  During the second quarter of the year, DEED awarded this one grant through the Greater Minnesota Busines...Continue Reading

ST. CLOUD — Coborn's Inc. announced Friday that Kansas City-based Associated Wholesale Grocers Inc. will be Coborn's primary wholesale supplier and AWG will open its new Upper Midwest Division facility in St. Cloud. According to a press release from the companies, AWG will begin supplying products to Coborn’s stores in January 2022 from the forme...Continue Reading

The council approved the site plans for BP Metals, a sheet metal manufacturing business currently located in Blaine that will be building a second shop in Isanti at 825 East Dual Blvd NE.  For the time being, the owner, Blake Pendzimas, plans to keep the Blaine location, with potential to expan...Continue Reading

Major corporations are calling for Congress to support fleet electrification, and Senate Democrats are reportedly shoring up narrow support for a $3.5 trillion bill with a focus on climate change issues. "As part of a 2021 infrastructure bill, Congress has the opportunity to adopt targeted policies that will significantly reduce greenhouse gas an...Continue Reading

Republicans are sensing a vulnerability in the White House’s avowed allegiance to renewable energy, questioning whether the Biden administration will embrace mining projects to ramp up the United States’ access to the minerals vital to building electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels. They have taken aim at a Biden administratio...Continue Reading

St. Paul – The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) has awarded grants totaling $3.1 million to 26 nonprofit lending partners across the state that provide business loans through DEED’s Minnesota Emerging Entrepreneur Loan Program (ELP). ELP supports the growth of businesses owned and operated by people who identify a...Continue Reading

ST. PAUL — Minnesota pulled in $2.7 billion more than was projected earlier this year as the state's economy outperformed expectations, state economists reported Monday, July 12. Minnesota Management and Budget officials said the state is on pace to take in $26.6 billion in net general funds in the budget cycl...Continue Reading

St. Paul – Minnesota business services firms expect continued recovery from the pandemic recession during the next four quarters, with 55% of respondents expecting increase in consumer spending and 46% anticipating growth in employment. Those are the results released today from a joint survey conducted in May and June of thi...Continue Reading

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) State Director for Rural Development in Minnesota Cynthia Morales today announced nearly $10.4 million to modernize rural drinking water and wastewater infrastructure in six Minnesota communities. “Safe, reliable water and wastewater infrastructure is an essential part to the success of rural America, especially remote areas wit...Continue Reading

The Princeton City Council approved moving ahead on the reconstruction of the taxiway at the Princeton Municipal Airport recently. The low bid for the project was below the engineer’s estimate by over $500,000. Council members approved the $977,730 bid for the reconstruction from Knife River Corporation — North Central June 24. Clic...Continue Reading

U.S. factory activity continued its robust expansion in June even as companies and suppliers struggled to meet increasing levels of demand amid constraints for raw materials, labor and supply chain services, according to the Institute for Supply Management.  Manufacturing has grown for 13 consecutive months, spurred by consumer spending on good...Continue Reading

Minnesota lawmakers this year have said the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for universal access to quality internet as many residents worked or attended school from home. In response to the lack of adequate broadband in parts of the state, especially rural areas, legislators agreed to spend $70 million on ...Continue Reading

 A bipartisan group of U.S. Farm Belt lawmakers will introduce a trio of bills on Tuesday aimed at boosting public investment in biofuels as the industry tries to combat a White House push for electric vehicles, according to copies of the bills seen by Reuters. The bills, which include billions o...Continue Reading

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Grid Catalyst, one of the first Midwest clean-energy business accelerators, will have its inaugural class of startups this fall. The accelerator will focus on demonstrating and expanding "solutions for northern climates." "Accelerator programs catalyze new leadership, investment, jobs and, in this case, advance positive climate action," said Grid Catalyst founder Nina Axelson...Continue Reading

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan announced Jeffrey Rainey’s appointment to the Governor’s Workforce Development Board (GWDB) — as a business representative — and Rainey’s three-year term will run through June 30, 2024. Rainey is Dakota Electric Association’s economic development director, whose role is to attract ne...Continue Reading

St. Paul – The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) awarded $3.89 million in grants to eight communities across Minnesota to clean up or investigate 11 contaminated sites approved for redevelopment. DEED’s Contamination Cleanup Grant Program awarded the funding, which will leverage more than $308 million in private investment an...Continue Reading

Great River Energy is pleased to announce that Jeff Borling, economic development lead, earned the designation of Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) through the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), a national recognition that denotes a mastery of skills in economic development, professional attainment and a commitment to personal and professional growth.  Th...Continue Reading

The coronavirus pandemic disrupted businesses worldwide and its impacts on warehousing and distribution could have lasting effects. Outbreaks in one part of the world have caused transportation delays across the globe that have spiraled into supply chain disruptions and warehouse congestion or closures. Businesses are struggling to adapt. Some warehouse...Continue Reading

Great River Energy recently hosted a webinar featuring Naomi Lenz, Minnesota Rural Business Services State Office Specialist for the United Stated Department of Agriculture (USDA), for employees of its 28 member-owner cooperatives. Lenz provided a detailed overview of the USDA Rural Economic Development Loan & Grant Program (REDLG), which allows electri...Continue Reading