Laserfiche WebLink
WebXtras - The Road to Alpharetta Page 2 of 2 <br /> Case study: Elk River <br /> • "There are very little economic assistance incentives available to businesses in <br /> the state of Minnesota," Ritter says. "It's all dependent on how far you're willing to <br /> go." <br /> Outer-ring communities that own business parks are attempting to attract <br /> businesses to relocate to their community by offering incentive packages of little or <br /> no-cost land, Ritter says. <br /> Elk River is a third-tier suburb located on four-lane Highways 10, 169 and 101 <br /> that offers work force development assistance and affordable land prices---at $1 to <br /> $1.20 per square foot. <br /> The city also offers tax increment financing, tax abatement and local sub-prime <br /> loans, says Catherine Mehelich, director of economic development for the city. More <br /> than 200 acres of light industrial business park space is available for development. <br /> SoftPac Industries Inc. is building a 75,000-square-foot manufacturing plant on a <br /> 14-acre site in Elk River. SoftPac manufactures soft, stand-up pouches for the food, <br /> beverage and health and beauty industries. The plant is expected to hire about 60 <br /> employees. <br /> • <br /> needs"Onewith reason weaccess choseto Elk River is10that it wit will ill sufficientlyserveas a servehalfourway point transportation <br /> , easy Highway , and between <br /> our Foley plant and corporate headquarters in Plymouth," says John Dennis, <br /> SoftPac's vice president of operations. <br /> SoftPac is planning future expansion at its Elk River site. "We are currently using <br /> about one-third of the 14-acre lot with hopes of growing to as much as three times <br /> our current plant size," Dennis says. <br /> Developing a skilled work force is one problem businesses often face when <br /> moving to an outer suburb. "Most recently, we have been working with a company <br /> that is in need of over 100 people skilled in fiber optics and photonics technology by <br /> year 2002," Mehelich says. <br /> But a high concentration of skilled labor is available in the area as a whole, <br /> Mehelich points out. "Elk River companies draw workers from the Twin Cities, St. <br /> Cloud and also outlying rural areas." <br /> I E . bine <br /> • Content Copyright©2001 Cahners Business Information. - Last Updated March,2001. <br /> http://www.bizsites.com/webxtras/twincities.html 4/5/01 <br />