News Articles
These are exciting times for the entrepreneurial dairy-farm family that runs Redhead Creamery, an artisanal cheese producer a few miles north of Brooten in central Minnesota.A little over a year ago, Redhead introduced its own line of spirits made from whey, a byproduct of cheese-making. That makes Redhead one of...
Minnesota Jobs and Workforce Grow in August
Sep 18 2025Minnesota employers added 5,900 jobs in August, strong growth that defied a nearly-flat employment picture on the national level, according to new data from the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). Minnesota’s growth equated to a 0.2% increase in jobs in August, compared to effectively flat employment for the...
On the road kicking off Leadership Minnesota
Sep 12 2025Coming to you from the road this week, as we’ve been traveling across Minnesota with our Leadership Minnesota session one. About 40 business leaders gathered earlier in the week at Clow Stamping in Merrifield, near the Brainerd area, for a tour of that fantastic facility. A big thank-you to the...
HOW TO ENABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH? WORKFORCE HOUSINGA key event dedicated to strengthening the regional economy here in Minnesota, this year the summit focused on one of the most pressing challenges facing the region: workforce housing.Led by the event emcee and Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Tribal Member Adrienne Benjamin, with...
A proposed data center in Faribault has cleared the environmental review process and is up for the next round of city approvals, a project that comes at a time when the Twin Cities market is poised for growth.The Faribault City Council launched an environmental review of the project earlier this...
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...
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...
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...
Over the past several years, the U.S. agriculture sector has contributed more than $200 billion in net added value annually to the nation’s GDP with the export value of a broad range of agriculture products from soybeans and cotton to sweet corn and peanuts amounting to more than $170 billion...
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...
