Roughly 40 business expansions that were announced in Minnesota during the second quarter are expected to add about 1,500 new jobs in the state.
That’s according to a new report from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). Combined with first-quarter expansion plans, there have been more than 80 announced expansions in the state this year, the agency said.
DEED’s quarterly report is based on a statewide survey, and the agency uses media reports, Internet research, and referrals from economic developers to tabulate job growth. Twin Cities Business has previously reported on several of the expansion projects, while others have gone under the radar.
Key projects include Emerson Process Management Rosemount, which makes pressure, temperature, flow, level, and safety measurement products for industrial customers and is adding up to 500 new jobs as it invests $70 million in a 500,000-square-foot building addition in Shakopee.
Grand Rapids-based Magnetation, Inc., received the green light to move forward with a new iron ore recovery facility near Coleraine, and construction of the $120 million plant starts this summer. It will hire 160 for the project when completed in 2015, DEED said.
Eden Prairie-based 3D-printing company Stratasys, Ltd., plans to hire up to 100 employees by the end of this year in the wake of its $403 million acquisition of New York-based MakerBot.
Capital Safety Group, a manufacturer of work-site safety equipment that moved to Minnesota from London last year, has proposed an expansion of its Red Wing headquarters, a move that would create between 50 and 100 new jobs there, DEED said.
AGCO, which makes and distributes agricultural machinery, plans to invest $42 million over the next three years to expand its plant in Jackson, adding 75 new jobs by 2015.
Canadian petroleum pipeline developer Enbridge Energy intends to hire 90 new employees in Duluth—in addition to the 110 it hired last year. AT&T, meanwhile, moved 93 workers from its Birmingham, Alabama, offices to downtown Minneapolis in May, according to the DEED report.
Recovery Technology Solutions plans to develop its new headquarters and flagship manufacturing facility on the site of Shakopee’s Raceway Park, bringing 47 jobs to the city. And Pearson Candy Company may bring up to 30 new jobs to St. Paul in the wake of its acquisition of the iconic Bit-O-Honey brand.
Software developer Calabrio, meanwhile, moved its headquarters from Plymouth to a 30,000-square-foot office in downtown Minneapolis, where it has plans to add 40 jobs in the coming two years, according to DEED.
Some of the other companies that plan to add Minnesota jobs, along with the locations where their expansions will occur, include:
• Technical Services for Electronics, Jackson (35)
• Midwest Fabrication & Supply, Zumbrota (25)
• Sport Ngin, Minneapolis (20 jobs)
• Sanimax, South St. Paul (20)
• Way Better Snacks, Minneapolis (20)
• Kahler Automation Corporation, Fairmont (15)
• FORCE America, Alexandria (14)
For the complete DEED report—which includes more job expansions, as well as facility expansions that may not result in new jobs—click here.
DEED’s report is likely not comprehensive, and it does not take into account job losses among Minnesota employers. On a net basis, Minnesota employers added 4,300 jobs in July, mostly in government, as the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.2 percent.
“One key indicator of economic success is the number of businesses we see expanding within our borders,” DEED Commissioner Katie Clark Sieben said in a statement. “The number of companies choosing to invest here represents a level of confidence in the economic opportunities we are seeing statewide.”
Twin Cities Business conducts its Quarterly Economic Indicator Survey to gauge Minnesota employers’ outlook on the state’s economy. The most recent survey found that economic and political factors are squeezing profit margins while hindering revenue growth at Minnesota companies.
This article is reprinted in partnership with Twin Cities Business.
Hold The Phone!
But wait, I thought companies were leaving Minnesota in DROVES because of our poor business climate.