Success Stories

See how our economic development teams have partnered with others to help foster business and community.

Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery – Menomonie, Wisconsin

Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery (external link), whose history dates back to 1903, opened a new 60,000-square-foot specialty cheesemaking facility and retail store in Menomonie, Wisconsin, in summer 2022. The $26.1 million creamery produces specialty artisan cheeses with milk from 250 dairy farm members.

Myplas – Rogers, Minnesota

South African plastic film producer Myplas has chosen Rogers, Minnesota, a Twin Cities suburb, for a new $24.3 million, 90-job recycling facility that will one day recycle nearly 90 million pounds of polyethylene packaging. That’s equivalent to enough pallet wrap to encircle the globe 137 times. At full capacity, what is being called “the first state-of-the-art flexible film recycling plant in the U.S.” could employ as many as 300 people. The new plant is slated to begin operations in spring 2023. Read more here (external link)

PepsiCo Beverages North America – Denver, Colorado 

In July 2022, PepsiCo announced a new manufacturing facility in Denver that will embody the greenest of principles. The new 1.2-million-square-foot plant on nearly 152 acres of land at the Denver High Point development area will be PepsiCo Beverages North America’s largest U.S. plant, creating 250 new jobs. Set to open in summer 2023, the facility aims to be the company’s most sustainable domestic site in line with the PepsiCo Positive sustainability strategy. During the site selection process that encompassed four states, the company looked at key info including the availability of economic development rates and renewable energy programs. Through Xcel Energy’s new economic development rate in Colorado, eligible companies like PepsiCo can receive an electric rate discount for up to 10 years that gradually steps down from a 30% discount in years one through three. Find more details here (external link).  

Ascent Aviation – Roswell, New Mexico

Ascent Aviation is building a new facility in at the Roswell International Air Center that will serve as a major hub for airline maintenance, repair, storage, reclamation and fueling. The company is expanding from its home in Arizona and expects to open in New Mexico by the end of 2022. Ascent Aviation is also partnering with Eastern New Mexico University’s branch campus in Roswell and Central New Mexico Community College in Albuquerque to provide scholarships and internships for future aviation maintenance technicians. The company plans to hire 360 employees, and their project is expected to have a statewide economic impact of $545 million over 10 years. For more project information, click here (external link).

Umoja Biopharma Inc. – Louisville, Colorado

Umoja Biopharma Inc, a Seattle-based developer of cancer therapies, is setting up a 146,000-square-foot facility in Louisville’s Colorado Technology Center. The plant will house labs, offices and manufacturing space for lentiviral vector production. The first manufacturing run is expected to begin in 2023. Umoja’s project is anticipated to create about 100 jobs, and equipment and capital expenditures could top $70 million over the next five years. Click here (external link) for more details.

Caviness Beef Packers, Ltd. – Randall County, Texas

Caviness Beef Packers (external link) is opening a state-of-the-art facility in Randall County, Texas, just outside of Amarillo. Caviness, a progressive, family-owned beef packing and processing company was established in 1962. They will celebrate their 60-year anniversary with the opening of this new facility. The company hopes to eventually employ up to 200 workers. 

Shamrock Foods – Aurora, Colorado

Shamrock Foods has built a 1.3 million-square-foot distribution center at Xcel Energy’s Majestic CommerCenter certified site in Aurora, Colorado. Shamrock Foods is among the top 10 largest food service distributors nationwide and serves restaurant, hospitality and institutional customers. The new 116-acre facility includes Shamrock’s regional headquarters, distribution center and ancillary buildings. For more project information, click here (external link).

Kalera – Aurora, Colorado, and St. Paul, Minnesota

Kalera, one of the fastest growing vertical farming companies in the United States, has established two new vertical farming operations in Xcel Energy service territories. The company opened its fifth vertical-grown-greens facility in an Xcel Energy Ready Building at Gateway 23 in Aurora, Colorado. They have also chosen to locate 80,000 square feet of operations in the previous Schmidt Brewery property in St. Paul, Minnesota, which will begin operations in May 2022. Click here (external link) for more details.

SICK – Bloomington, Minnesota

SICK (external link), a German sensor manufacturer is completing Phase I of a multi-year technology campus in Bloomington, Minnesota, where it intends to consolidate all of its U.S. operations. Total project capital investment is estimated at $100 million, building 550,000 square feet over four phases, and creating approximately 700 new jobs. Phase I will be completed in 2022 and includes a 120,000-squaree-foot office and industrial building with $24 million in capital investment and 100 employees. 

Amazon – Woodbury, Minnesota

Amazon is building a 517,000-square-foot distribution center in Woodbury, Minnesota, adding 500-1,000 new jobs to the area. Amazon also enrolled in Xcel Energy’s Energy Efficiency Building Program, which will result in around 4.6 GWh of savings. The facility is expected to be complete in late summer 2022. Click here (external link) for more details.

Graco – Dayton, Minnesota

Graco, a leading manufacturer of fluid handling equipment, has purchased approximately 100 acres of undeveloped land in Dayton, Minnesota, to allow two of its three business divisions currently operating in Minneapolis to relocate. A 500,000-square-foot facility is expected to be complete by late 2022 as the first phase of development. For more project information, click here (external link).

Hewlett Packard Enterprise – Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin

Hewlett Packard Enterprise acquired Chippewa Falls-based Cray Inc. in 2019 and is developing a Global Center of Excellence for High Performance Compute Manufacturing. The company will invest roughly $22 million in improvements while creating new jobs in the area. Xcel Energy was a key partner in working with HPE to retain its operations in Chippewa Falls. In this work, Xcel Energy developed a new economic development rate that was approved by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin. HPE is Xcel Energy’s second largest electric customer in Wisconsin, employs more than 600 in the Chippewa Falls area and has a $200 million+ impact on the regional economy.

For more project information, click here (external link).

Boston Scientific – Maple Grove, Minnesota

Boston Scientific (external link) is planning a fourth building at its Maple Grove, Minnesota, campus to support expanded nitinol stent manufacturing. The two-story building will include shell office space for future needs. Marlborough, Massachusetts-based Boston Scientific has a significant presence around Minneapolis-St. Paul, with another major campus in Arden Hills and roughly 7,500 employees in Minnesota.