The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) is supporting business expansions in four Minnesota cities with $412,515 from the Job Creation Fund, which provide financial incentives to new and expanding businesses that meet certain job creation and capital investment targets.
The business expansion projects are expected to create 35 new jobs over the next three years and attract millions in private investment.
Awards were made to Central McGowan Inc. in St. Cloud, Distinctive Iron in Elk River, P.A. SpA in Bloomington, and Whirltronics Inc. in Buffalo.
“I congratulate these four businesses and cities on their expansions,” said DEED Commissioner Steve Grove. “The Job Creation Fund helps ensure that Minnesota remains a competitive marketplace for growing businesses."
The Job Creation Fund is a pay-for-performance program that provides funding to businesses after meeting certain criteria. To be eligible in the Twin Cities metro, businesses must create at least 10 full-time jobs and invest at least $500,000. Businesses located in Greater Minnesota or those owned by 51% minority, veterans, women or persons with disability, must create at least five full-time jobs and invest $250,000 to be eligible.
Details on individuals awards as follows:
Central McGowan, St. Cloud $120,000
Central McGowan is a FANUC-authorized integrator that helps its customers incorporate robotic solutions and technologies into their operations, as well as a leading local industrial distributor with experience in 20+ industries. The company oversees, develops and designs fully-engineered specialty hard automation, robotic automation systems, and everything in between. This project will expand Central McGowan’s existing 12,000-square-foot automation center to further grow the automation segment of its business. The total project cost is $1.6 million and is expected to create eight jobs with an average wage of $26.58 an hour over the next two years.
Distinctive Iron, Elk River $42,474
Distinctive Iron is a structural and miscellaneous steel fabrication shop that coordinates design, fabrication and installation for customer projects. They are certified WBE / DBE / SBE / TGB and CERT. The company will use the funding to purchase and renovate an existing building site to further expand operations in Elk River to better serve their customers. The total project cost is more than $1.5 million and it is expected to create five jobs with an average wage of $18.80 an hour over the next three years.
P.A. SpA, Bloomington $110,619
P.A. SpA is an Italian family-run company founded in 1983. The company manufactures high-pressure cleaning accessories such as spray guns, lances and valves. P.A. SpA will expand into a 65,000-square-foot building in Bloomington. The total project cost is nearly $5.5 million and it’s expected to create 12 jobs within the first year at an average wage of $19.68 an hour.
Whirltronics Inc., Buffalo $139,422
Whirltronics is a privately-held company that manufactures rotary lawn mower blades and sells to original equipment manufacturers. This project will expand their existing facility. Total project cost is nearly $3.9 million and it is expected to create 10 jobs over the next two years with an average wage of $17.11 an hour.
DEED is the state’s principal economic development agency, promoting business recruitment, expansion and retention, workforce development, international trade and community development. For more information about the agency and its services, visit the DEED website or follow DEED on Twitter.
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