CLOQUET: Toothpick Production Returns to Cloquet After being outsourced to China five years ago, toothpick production has returned to the Jarden Homes Brand mill in Cloquet. The news was featured first in the October 10th edition of Time in an article on the manufacturing jobs returning to the U.S. In case you’re wondering, the mill produces flat toothpicks, same as before.
NORTH BRANCH: Signs of the Times Target Ads for Students Kids at Sunrise Elementary School will be part of a new niche marketing campaign with big advertising signs now up on walls in the building. It’s all part of an effort approved by the school board to increase operating revenue. Students will also most likely soon be face-to-face with ads on their lockers, hallway walls and outside grounds, as well.
MANKATO: Legacy Tax Funding Drives up Number of Registrants for Historical Status The number of Minnesota cities applying for listing on the National Register of Historic Places appears to be on the rise. A Twin Cities consultant who assists entities seeking the designation traces the uptick in the sales tax monies available for infrastructure improvements and upkeep on local historical sites.
GRAND FORKS: Striking Sugar Workers to Make Proposal Locked out American Crystal Sugar workers plan to bring a new proposal to a federal mediator this week. More than 1,300 workers have been off the job in a lockout that’s gone on for two and a half months in the Red River Valley sugar beet plants. The company says it will meet with the workers if asked.
PARKERS PRAIRIE: Proposed Turbine Farm Faces Headwind of Opposition Dozens of residents attended a public meeting regarding an up to 100-megawatt wind farm planned for the Parkers Prairie area. Several individuals on both sides of the project spoke at the state hearing that’s part of the permit process. The wind energy project could have 40 turbines.
