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The Northland Small Business Development Center (SBDC) celebrated milestones on Aug. 19, recognizing the organization’s performance over the past three years. An event at Blackwoods Event Center in Proctor included key funders, community partners and elected officials along with the Northland SBDC team and Northland Foundation staff to recognize the...
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) today released the state's draft final proposal for using federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funds to expand broadband availability.The proposal would extend broadband access to 75,000 Minnesota homes and businesses, covering every location eligible for BEAD funding in...
Tourism continued to grow last year in Minnesota
Aug 27 2025Explore Minnesota said Wednesday that tourism increased during 2024. Visitor spending reached a record $14.7 billion, marking an increase of $600 million over 2023. Minnesota also welcomed 81.6 million visitors in 2024, a 4.6% increase from the prior year.Visitor spending generated a total economic impact of $24.7 billion, including $2.4...
Pulsar Helium to drill more wells near Babbitt
Aug 27 2025Pulsar Helium Inc. is moving ahead with a major drilling campaign at its helium project site in northeastern Minnesota. The international helium developer will drill up to 10 new wells at its Topaz project site near Babbitt, the company announced. “We are thrilled to kick off our multi-well drilling campaign...
The Powerhouses Driving GrowthIn today’s dynamic economic landscape, tourism has emerged as a robust engine for local, state, and national growth. Over the last two years, particularly in the period from 2024 to 2025, the industry has not only rebounded from global disruptions but has also reinvented its strategic role...
On July 24, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced a reorganization of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The plan will relocate thousands of employees from Washington, D.C., restructure regional operations, and consolidate administrative services. To view the complete memorandum, click here. Reorganization OverviewRegional hubs: USDA will establish five primary...
MSP Business Journal: Here are the potential eligible Opportunity Zones in program's new iteration, mapped
Aug 19 2025New Opportunity Zones criteria will change which communities will be eligible for the investment program.Real estate investors will have a smaller selection of Opportunity Zones when the next version of the program launches. That's because the sweeping tax and spend legislation enacted in July as part of President Donald Trump's One...
More than 75% of manufacturing companies in the United States are small, with fewer than 20 employees, according to the Small Business Administration. Yet, in all of the political discussions nationally about relocating manufacturing operations from China and other locations back to the United States, what’s often overlooked are the...
The Duluth office of Kraus-Anderson completed construction on Papa Charlie’s Event Center and Lodging at 467 Ski Hill Road in Lutsen, Minnesota.The 9,825-square-foot restaurant and lodge replaces the former facility that was shuttered by a 2023 fire that required six volunteer fire departments to contain.Designed by LHB Architects, the new...
The Cambria countertop company is building an $80 million quartz processing plant and rail center in Dakota County and will move some operations from Canada to the U.S.Tucked in an industrial park near cornfields and dairy farms in Randolph, the new 10-story quartz crushing plant will employ 50 to 70...
Minnesota’s manufacturing sector plays an outsized role in the state’s economy. It is the state’s second largest sector and has a disproportionate impact on other industries. When manufacturing grows, it spurs activity in construction, real estate, professional services, utilities and other industries that supply the needs of local manufacturers.Given this...
In an updated projection, Pulsar Helium aims to begin production in 2027, according to founder Thomas Abraham-James in a recent statement. Several key steps remain before an official decision can be made in 2026 to enact this timeline the following year.Currently, Pulsar is engaged in the testing process with its...
Population growth tells a powerful story—not just about where people are moving, but where businesses should follow. In today’s competitive landscape, companies across industries—from retail chains and corporate headquarters to software development hubs, call centers, industrial parks, and logistics facilities—are leveraging growth dynamics to guide their location strategies. To help...
Echo Press: Sustainable aviation fuel of the future offers farmers the hope they need right now
Aug 5 2025Farmers gathered inside the Farmfest grounds in Morgan on Tuesday, Aug. 5, said they needed something to improve the current negative margins they are seeing in major commodities. They also needed something that would get the next generation excited about farming.Minnesota Farmers Union president Gary Wertish said farmers must look...
The new tax law makes permanent and expands Opportunity Zones (OZ), a program allowing investors to defer capital gains taxes if they make investments in certain low-income census tracts.The new law — known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — offers benefits for investing in low-income rural areas. Explore...
Lead with Facts, Land the Deal
Aug 5 2025I was privileged to serve on a panel discussion with fellow site selectors at a recent economic development event. Attendees of the event were from various backgrounds: local economic developers, city officials, county administrators, chamber of commerce executives and utility providers. Many attendees were from smaller, more rural communities, and...
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins today announced the U.S. Forest Service is investing $106 million to support state and landowner efforts to conserve private working forestlands across the country. Funded through the Forest Legacy Program, these projects will protect forests vital to the economic and social fabric of...
The newly revamped federal Opportunity Zone program is expected to have a lot fewer real estate parcels involved than its predecessor, setting up potential fight over which areas are chosen for inclusion. The sweeping tax and spend legislation enacted earlier this month, the President Trump's Big Beautiful bill has changed.Click...
Twin Cities Business Journal: New SBA partnership aims to boost workforce development for manufacturers
Jul 16 2025The Small Business Administration wants to strengthen its cooperation with the Department of Labor to get more skilled workers into manufacturing. The two agencies on Wednesday announced a memorandum of understanding that would increase cross collaboration to help support manufacturing. That means connecting the SBA's capital and a contracting tools...
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Deputy Under Secretary Todd Lindsay announced that USDA will be opening the first grant application window for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) on October 1, 2025. USDA is using the remaining time in FY25 to implement...
An 11-acre lakefront resort in Park Rapids recently hit the market for nearly $1.2 million. The Walters Resort offers a family-friendly vacation spot with modern comforts while surrounded by northern woods, according to its listing with Rice Real Estate Services. The resort sits on the shores of Lake Ida with...
To rank America’s Top States for Business in 2025, CNBC scored all 50 states on 135 metrics in 10 broad categories of competitiveness. The fundamentals of the study, now in its 19th year, are the same as they have always been, identifying the factors companies consider year after year when...
If anyone is looking for the definitive definition (if you will) of biotechnology, an inquiry to Professor Google quickly reveals the following:“Biotechnology is the use of biology to solve problems and make useful products. The most prominent area of biotechnology is the production of therapeutic proteins and other drugs through...
Minneapolis-St. Paul is one of the leading biomanufacturing and med-tech hubs featured in a new report released by the Hickey Institute, division of Hickey & Associates, a global consulting firm specializing in site selection and location strategy.According to the report, “Minneapolis–St. Paul stands out as one of the most important...
