Businesses in St. Cloud, MN
St. Cloud, MN's businesses are diverse and growing including the manufacturing industry, health care, printing, and more.
St. Cloud’s economy is diverse and growing.
Centered in the middle of Minnesota, St. Cloud is part of a region that the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development says will see the fastest rate of job growth in the state through at least 2010.
The cost of living is below the national average. Interstate 94 and U.S. Hwy. 10 provide great transportation access.
Local government and business leaders have set their sights on the bioscience sector, winning designation in early 2008 for a 500-acre bioscience zone to attract more of the high-paying jobs to the region.
The Science Initiative of Central Minnesota is behind the push. Its partners include private firms, universities and local chambers of commerce. The group meets at least once a month, but its members do more than just talk. Granite Equity Partners, for example, in March 2008 invested in MicroBioLogics Inc., which produces stock cultures for diagnostic testing and quality control. The St. Cloud-based company plans to expand.
Other Initiative partners are managed services company Netgain, renowned Minnesota law firm Gray Plant Mooty and software designer IntelliSoft Technologies.
A look at the St. Cloud area’s major employers shows an economy that is retaining a solid base of manufacturing, agriculture and health care while developing as a place for professional services. Central Minnesota also has a robust printing industry.
Companies with 500 or more employees include Gold’n Plump, a chicken producer; Electrolux Home Products, which makes kitchen appliances; Bauerly Companies, provider of concrete products and asphalt; New Flyer USA, a bus manufacturer; and Cold Spring Granite, which quarries and produces the region’s signature resource. Wolters Kluwer Financial Services and CompuCredit make the list, too. Printing and paper companies with at least 500 workers include Verso Paper, Quebecor World, Nahan Printing and Creative Memories, which creates photo albums.
The education and health care sectors are huge here. CentraCare Health Systems, which includes St. Cloud Hospital, is the region’s single largest employer, topping even the state of Minnesota, which in St. Cloud includes two universities plus a corrections center and a department of transportation office.
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