DEED Roundup – Nov. 7, 2016

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  Nov. 7, 2016

In the News

Head shot of Commissioner Hardy

Building a Pathway to Equity
St. Paul Pioneer Press-11/3/16
The best cure for poverty? Access to jobs. That’s a message local leaders heard during a recent visit to Baltimore. DEED Commissioner Shawntera Hardy agrees that the concept of business climate as an equity issue makes sense. “When you’re thinking about the best pathway to increasing wealth in a household or in a community, it’s a strong business sector,” she says. A thriving Main Street means “having businesses that are able to employ the community,” Hardy says.

Did You Know?

Cover of the Harvard Business Review

The Harvard Business Review's annual ranking of the top 100 CEOs in the world included three from Minnesota. Doug Baker Jr. (Ecolab) ranked 41st, Ken Powell (General Mills) was 71st and Jeff Ettinger (Hormel Foods) was 84th.

 

 

Press Releases

Welcome to Grand Rapids sign


Swan Expanding in Grand Rapids
Perham-based Swan Machine Inc. will create 30 jobs and invest $1.9 million in an expansion at its Grand Rapids facility.  The company, which builds customized precision-machined components, said it will add 13,000 square feet of manufacturing space in Grand Rapids. DEED is supporting the project with a $191,479 grant from the Job Creation Fund.

Cass Lake Startup Awarded DEED Grant
LED lighting assembly and testing startup Aki Development LLC of Cass Lake has been awarded a $29,000 job-training grant from DEED. The grant was awarded under DEED’s Job Training Incentive Program, which provides funding to help new or expanding businesses in Greater Minnesota train workers. “Aki is a groundbreaking company that will be the country’s first solar manufacturer on tribal lands,” Commissioner Hardy said.

DEED Supports Kerry Expansion
Food ingredients company Kerry last week announced an $18.1 million expansion of its manufacturing facility in Rochester – the first phase of a larger facility expansion project planned at $28.6 million. The company plans to build a 5,300-square-foot addition that will hold a new spray dryer and two 10,000-gallon dryer feed tanks. DEED is supporting the project with a $175,000 grant from the Job Creation Fund.