Economic Development & Transportation
There are many draws to doing business in the St. Cloud area, including ample opportunities for expansion and relocation, attractive financial incentives, an ideal location in the state, great educational resources, a large and well-trained workforce and a high quality of life. Adding to the list is the area’s steady employment growth.
The St. Cloud area experienced a major shift in its population dynamics in the 1990s—with the communities of St. Cloud, Sauk Rapids, Waite Park, Sartell and St. Joseph all facing development through the decade. As a whole, the metropolitan area grew 13 percent during this time.
BUSINESS PARKS
Nearly two dozen industrial parks and business centers are located within the St. Cloud area. Among these business parks, hundreds of acres of land are available, with utilities included, for approximately one-third of the cost of comparable property found within the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. In addition to the business parks, there are a number of outlying industrial and commercial sites available within the region’s service area.
For businesses looking to relocate or expand in central Minnesota, The Partnership serves as a one-stop resource for economic development. www.scapartnership.com
WORKFORCE
The presence of outstanding public and private schools, colleges, universities, technical and trade schools, along with available training centers, has unquestionably played an important role in the success of area businesses. Made up of dedicated, well-educated employees, the St. Cloud area is proud of the fact that its labor force participation rate is higher than the state average (73 percent in the St. Cloud MSA, 71 percent statewide).
Employees travel from more than a dozen surrounding counties and numerous cities with an average commute time of 20 minutes.
TRANSPORTATION
All roads lead to central Minnesota, as major highway systems make their way through or around the St. Cloud metropolitan area. Offering convenient travel in and out of the heart of Minnesota are Interstate 94, U.S. Highway 10 and Minnesota highways 23 and 15.
Employers, employees and visitors take advantage of these main thoroughfares for commutes, transport and general travel.
PUBLIC TRANSIT
St. Cloud, Sartell, Sauk Rapids and Waite Park take advantage of Metro Bus, the local intercity bus service. Currently, the fixed route system provides 16 regularly scheduled routes seven days a week. Metro Bus also operates a Dial-a-Ride service. The local Greyhound and Jefferson Lines Agency can both be accessed at the Metro Bus Transit Center.
The Northstar Link Commuter Bus provides up to five trips from East St. Cloud to Big Lake each weekday morning and afternoon. From there commuters can ride the Northstar Commuter Rail Line from Big Lake to downtown Minneapolis. As administrator of the program, St. Cloud Metro Bus expects to give 45,000 rides a year.
Commuters in need of regional and national travel are afforded commuter rail service through St. Cloud’s Amtrak station. The station is serviced by the Empire Builder route, which travels daily between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest.
ST. CLOUD REGIONAL AIRPORT
In 2009, the St. Cloud Regional Airport unveiled a $5 million expansion. The 9,000-square-foot terminal addition essentially doubled the size of the airport to 19,000 square feet, including adding seating for up to 200 passengers.
The airport offers a modern terminal, plus a control tower that was built in 2004. The airport also instituted a runway-widening project to accommodate larger aircraft in 2005.
The majority of the traffic at the airport is general aviation, including corporate travel through St. Cloud Aviation, as well as private corporate activity. The terminal expansion has helped fuel negotiations between the St. Cloud Regional Airport and a major carrier to provide air service between St. Cloud and Chicago.
Additionally, the National Guard chose to relocate a portion of its helicopter base to the airport. Six Black Hawk and six Chinook helicopters are housed at the Army National Guard Facility. The base opened in spring of 2009 as the airport’s anchor tenant, generating around 50 new jobs.
Currently, the airport has an economic impact that reaches $14 million a year, employs 95 people and oversees the maintenance of approximately 100 aircraft—numbers set to increase as the airport develops. Within the next decade or so, St. Cloud Regional Airport will be a recognized reliever airport for the bustling Metropolitan Airport Commission in the Twin Cities.
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