Minnesota DEED awards nearly $43 million for business expansions and job training

Minnesota is using a fresh round of state economic development funding to back a mix of advanced manufacturing, clean energy, health technology and university-led semiconductor research, as the state competes for large-scale investment and skilled jobs. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) said in an announcement that it has approved nearly $43 million from the Minnesota Forward Fund for four business expansion projects and one academia-industry collaboration. 

The agency said the package is expected to generate more than 260 direct new jobs, preserve nearly 2,900 existing positions and unlock roughly $693 million in private and other outside investment. DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek said the program is designed to help Minnesota win major expansion projects and support companies that are ready to commit capital at scale. 

The state describes the fund as a tool for attracting and retaining employers, while also helping with matching requirements tied to federal initiatives such as the CHIPS and Science Act. Among the largest awards is a $10 million grant to Boston Scientific for an expansion in Maple Grove, just outside Minneapolis. The company plans to add 300,000 square feet of office, laboratory and conference space at its Arbor Lakes site, along with related campus infrastructure. The project carries a total price tag of about $198 million and is expected to create 150 jobs paying an average wage of $27.33 an hour. Separate local approvals earlier this year pointed to the scale of Boston Scientific’s broader Maple Grove buildout, underscoring the company’s growing footprint in the city. 

Ecolab also received $10 million to modernize and enlarge its research and development campus in Eagan, near St. Paul. According to the company and DEED, the project will require more than $500 million in investment and will add more than 82,000 square feet to the existing site. The expansion is positioned as one of Ecolab’s biggest Minnesota investments, with the company saying it will strengthen its role as a global center for work on infection prevention, water technologies and digital systems. DEED said the project is expected to help retain more than 2,890 jobs in the state. 

The other $10 million awards go to Louisiana-Pacific for a new siding materials plant in North Branch and to Dem-Con HZI Bioenergy for an anaerobic digestion facility in Shakopee. LP plans to invest nearly $145 million in a 200,000-square-foot factory on a 120-acre site and expects to add 100 jobs over five years. Dem-Con HZI’s project is aimed at processing 75,000 tons of organic waste annually into renewable natural gas and biochar, a move that fits Minnesota’s push to expand both circular-economy infrastructure and low-carbon energy systems. 

The remaining $2.833 million will support a University of Minnesota Twin Cities partnership with Polar Semiconductor and Honeywell Aerospace to build an academic-industry center focused on quantum spintronic devices. The initiative is meant to deepen Minnesota’s semiconductor pipeline while giving students and engineers hands-on experience in magnetic sensors, advanced memory and other emerging applications. Over the next decade, the center is expected to reach more than 300 students and trainees across disciplines and partner companies.

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