5. EDSR 09-11-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The city will benefit, too For Elk River, which bills itself as "The Light Industrial Hub of the Northwest Metro," the clean, high-precision nature of Orluck Industries' business was a good fit with the city's economic development goals. "Those are definitely companies we like to see in Elk River," Mehelich says. Although Orluck Industries is a relatively small business, she says, "It's the small to medium-sized companies that keep our economy healthy." At the time the city was first considering the revived proposal, Orluck Industries had 13 full- time employees and two part-time workers. The firm has a history of low staff turnover, with jobs that pay about $15 per hour to $22 per hour -good wages by local standards. Although Orluck didn't commit to creating any new jobs as part of the project, Mehelich says it was a good sign that the firm added three full-time positions just while the proposal was going through the approval process. That brought total full-time employment to 16, and Orluck says he might add four to six more positions within two years. The Orluck Industries project passed its last major hurdle in June when the tax abatement financing plan was approved by the Sherburne County Board. Construction began in late October. Murray W. Wolf is the Managing Principal of Wolf Marketing & Media in Minnetonka and a frequent contributor to local, regional and national business publications.