Washington and Anoka counties team up to market suburbs as Minnesota Technology Corridor

Two counties and five cities in the northeast suburbs are launching a regional marketing push aimed at attracting data centers and technology businesses to undeveloped pockets near Interstate 35E.

Anoka and Washington counties are leading the collaborative pitch to brand the stretch of freeway near Centerville, Columbus, Forest Lake, Hugo and Lino Lakes as the future home of the Minnesota Technology Corridor.

The partners engineered a soft launch last week of the corridor website and plan to ramp up marketing efforts in July.

The marketing highlights the area’s large utility capacity and its proximity to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and emphasizes the tech talent already in the area’s workforce.

“This is one of the few areas left in the metro area within 30 minutes of the Twin Cities that also has over 1,000 acres of available land,” said Jacquel Hajder, Anoka County’s economic development specialist. “We really realized the opportunity we have to market what’s already here. Now it’s about putting that information out there.”

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