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The University of Minnesota’s Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI) today announced the launch of a new Joint Research Alliance with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR): Innovative Materials and Processing for Advanced Critical Technologies (IMPACT).At a time when global competition and supply chain vulnerability are...
Ireland trade mission expands new foreign direct investment paths for rural Minnesota cooperatives
Feb 17 2026Minnesota's electric cooperatives continue to seek practical ways to diversify local economies, attract new capital and foreign direct investment, and connect rural regions with new international partners.A recent trade mission to Ireland – supported by Great River Energy, Greater Mankato Growth and LITTUS – provided new insight into how Irish...
Each year, Area Development partners with Chmura Economics & Analytics to evaluate the performance of U.S. metropolitan areas based on the fundamentals that matter most to business expansion: workforce, economic strength, and adaptability. Using Chmura’s data-driven model — which equally weights Prime Workforce and Economic Strength — the Leading Metro...
A critical shortage of development-ready industrial sites is pushing states to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in product development. These proactive efforts aim to enhance the developability and speed-to-market of industrial property, ultimately attracting capital investment and job creation. Site Selection Group regularly monitors these investments, and this article...
The Cold Chain Sector Recalibration
Dec 3 2025United States cold storage is a specialized sector representing less than 2% of the overall industrial market, yet it is mission-critical infrastructure for U.S. consumption. Today, the property type is in a period of generational change. Average rents have grown more than 100% since 2020, yet vacancy has climbed to...
