When scouting locations for a retailer, an experienced real estate team knows precisely what to look for: sites that have high visibility, easy accessibility, and close proximity to a population base and competing stores. By comparing options that meet this small handful of criteria, the final selection can be relativel...Continue Reading

The pandemic wreaked havoc across every industry, and companies in the manufacturing and mobility/transportation sectors were not spared. The result? Companies are re-evaluating their supply chains and operations in a post-COVID environment. Realigning the Supply Chain For the past 20 years, manufacturing moved operations from the U.S. to East Asia to tak...Continue Reading

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected every facet of our economy, increasing a cultural reliance on e-commerce that is here to stay. Retailers have responded by minimizing square footage of brick-and-mortar store fronts, keeping less inventory on site, and focusing more on entertainment and experiential retail to keep shoppers engaged. A...Continue Reading

One of President Joe Biden’s first acts was to announce a $2.3 trillion bill to repair and upgrade the nation’s infrastructure. The bill addresses what has become a perennial topic of debate in Congress, and one that has repeatedly been set aside for action at some future date. It has bee...Continue Reading

In a time of widespread economic upheaval, the life sciences industry is one of the few whose prospects have changed for the better. Called upon to rapidly develop and distribute an all-important COVID-19 vaccine without sacrificing the research and production of existing drugs, the biotech industry is expanding at breaknec...Continue Reading

Speedbump or pothole? Either way, a global shortage of electric vehicle (EV) batteries is disrupting new and established manufacturers’ plans to deliver their product to consumers in the volumes and timeframes they first envisaged. That’s an opportunity for those looking to supply the demand, much of which is driven b...Continue Reading

In December 2020, the Site Selectors Guild conducted its third member survey to shed light on shifts and challenges in corporate location strategy moving into 2021. Renewed site selection activity, cautious optimism on foreign direct investment (FDI), continued skilled labor shortages and a shakeup of the global supply chain ar...Continue Reading

Demand has soared for industrial real estate across the country. And this sector has been especially strong in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market, according to the latest research from Colliers. The numbers from Colliers’ first quarter 2021 industrial report tell the story: According to Colliers, the Minneapolis-St. Paul industrial market finished the firs...Continue Reading

UPS Inc. (NYSE:UPS) said Monday that it has consolidated all its cold-chain logistics and delivery services into a dedicated global operation that falls under the Atlanta-based company’s UPS Healthcare umbrella. The operation, called UPS Cold Chain Solutions, will more than double the company’s worldwide freezer storage capacity to 1 million squar...Continue Reading

More and more we’re hearing the buzz words of sustainability, low-energy, green energy and resilient design. But to many of us, that’s all that they are – buzz words. There are also a lot of energy goals for cities, states, countries and the world, but how does that relate t...Continue Reading

Minnesota added 11,300 new jobs in April, the fourth straight month that the state has posted job gains. Data from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) shows that the state has now added 95,700 jobs over the last four months. More than half of those jobs wer...Continue Reading

St. Paul – Sales of agriculture, mining and manufacturing exports from Minnesota dipped 4% between the first quarters of 2020 and 2021, falling to $5.4 billion, according to a report released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). U.S. exports rose year over year by 2% durin...Continue Reading

If you’ve lost power anytime recently, you’ve come face to face with one of the fundamental truths about energy today: There are a lot of things we once could do without electricity that now require it. You’ve also come face to face with one of the hottest, and most poorly understood...Continue Reading

The Northland Foundation announces a new program, Maada'ookiing, created to partner with Northeast Minnesota Tribal Nations & Indigenous communities. Maada’ookiing means the ‘distribution’ in Ojibwe. In Indigenous community, the act of giving and sharing is recognized as a mutual act that benefits the entire community. It was in this spiri...Continue Reading

The moment we’ve all been waiting for is here! The Department of the Treasury released guidance for how communities can leverage American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. Tucked away in the document is a key directive: “state, local, and tribal governments may use payments from the Fiscal Recovery Funds fo...Continue Reading

Laid out in President Biden’s $2 trillion American Jobs Plan is a focus on revitalizing U.S. manufacturing, fortifying the electric grid and accelerating the development and adoption of clean energy technologies. These initiatives are interconnected; increasing the global competitiveness of the U.S. manufacturing sector hinges on overcoming the energy-related challenges that th...Continue Reading

A long-running conversation among county officials at board meetings, workshops and public forums these past few years has been the subject of economic development.  At the core of the discussion has been how to best serve McLeod County businesses, invite new development, and grow the tax base to keep local communitie...Continue Reading

The Itasca Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) announced Friday the formation of Innovate 218, a regional Launch Minnesota Hub designed to support innovators and entrepreneurs located in Northeast Minnesota. Funding for Innovate 218 comes from a Launch Minnesota Hub Grant. “Innovate 218 is truly a region-wide effort, and it would not have been possible without th...Continue Reading

The manufacturing economy grew in April and the overall economy showed an 11th consecutive month of growth, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s monthly Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. The April PMI of 60.7% was four percentage points lower than the March reading of 64.7% but well above the 50% leve...Continue Reading

Seven must-do tasks before creating an Opportunity Zone strategy include assessing housing needs; gauging commercial market conditions in your community; identifying key economic drivers; analyzing your community workforce; seeking available tools for economic growth; collaborating with existing partners; and finding the right experts to help guide you through this process. Let'...Continue Reading

April is National County Government month celebrating the theme “Counties Matter.” It’s a time to recognize the important work that counties do and raise awareness of the services provided in our community. For me, it’s a time to reflect on the past year and the resilient nature of people workin...Continue Reading

More federal funding to expand broadband, rules to allow the continuation of telemedicine, highway funding and more aid for small businesses are at the top of the list for area rural counties. Those were the messages county commissioners delivered to U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar during a virtual roundtable she hosted Friday...Continue Reading

In the late 1990s, West Bridgewater, Mass., was home to a thriving factory producing surgical equipment for Johnson & Johnson. “We were doing a massive amount of, essentially, PPE,” or personal protective equipment, says James Wyner, CEO of Shawmut Advanced Materials, which owns the factory. Click here to read full article fro...Continue Reading

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) and MnTech hosted a virtual panel discussion on Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) representation in today’s tech industry featuring three Black entrepreneurs.   The panel included BIPOC tech professionals at the forefront of the discussion, including:   Jonathan Banks, President and Founding Partner of NCXT; Erin Horne McKinney, CEO of WomenVenture; and Caroline Karanja, CEO of Hack the Gap. The discussio...Continue Reading