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Growing UP in a down economy Page 1 of 3 <br />StarTrlblune.com MNEAPCLIS - ST. PAUL, MIt+II~IESaTA <br />Growing UP in a down economy <br />By Dee DePass, Star Tribune <br />December 28, 2008 <br />Ideal Aerosmith recently ran radio ads seeking four new technical-assembly workers for <br />its East Grand Forks, Minn., plant. The company got more than it bargained for. <br />Thirty-six people showed up at this month's job fair. <br />"We were surprised. We would have been happy with 15," said Barbara Schultz, a senior <br />vice president. <br />The company's location usually makes it tough to get candidates, she said. No more. <br />Resumes have flooded into Ideal Aerosmith since word spread that the company is <br />growing despite the economy. It already has inched up by five workers this year, to 110. <br />And this month, it hired an engineer, a technical buyer and four assembly workers. <br />Schultz, asked if the recession might force cutbacks, said no way. "It's hard to say 'cut <br />back' when we are trying to grow right now," she said. "Our capacity is pretty much <br />tapped. While [the economy] is in the back of our minds, we are not dwelling on it." <br />Ideal Aerosmith, which makes avionics testing equipment for the armed forces and for <br />commercial contractors, represents the flip side of this economy: small, fast-growing <br />companies that are avoiding some of the woes that have beset larger firms. <br />While 3M, Andersen Corp., Hutchinson Technology, Best Buy, Tenant, Graco, Pentair <br />and other big-name Minnesota-based companies shed 7,000 workers since September, <br />dozens of small Minnesota manufacturers are growing and hiring. <br />Those medical and high-precision parts makers, rent-to-own auto dealers and defense <br />firms are investing in new equipment and expanding as if the boom times still were here, <br />note economists and economic-development bureaucrats <br />Stark contrast <br />The growth lies in stark contrast to what the 10,000 member National Association of <br />Manufacturers is seeing: thousands of layoffs and billions of dollars in cost reductions <br />reported in recent weeks. Nationally, manufacturers whacked 600,000 jobs this year, <br />including 85,000 last month. <br />Ideal Aerosmith and companies like it are exceptions. Companies thriving in the midst of <br />http://www.startribune.com/templates/Print_This_Story?sid=36757159 1/9/2009 <br />