COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT - Alexandria, MN

The one thing that can be said about Alexandria, MN, is that it has a strong core of manufacturing that spurs economic growth.

However, that is just one aspect of community growth that also includes health care, education, retail service, tourism, and biotechnology.

“Alexandria is known for its packaging cluster,” states Jason Murray, Executive Director, Alexandria Area Economic Development Commission.

Douglas Scientific is one of those unique manufacturers in the community. Fifteen months ago a new 50,000 square foot facility was constructed to develop ultra high throughput laboratory instruments to dispense DNA into a carrier tape. The company has expanded to 55 employees – largely scientists, engineers, and manufacturing professionals – and is preparing a second facility expansion of similar size.

“We’re supporting the most sophisticated genomic discovery on the planet,” states Dan Malmstrom, President and Chief Operating Officer of Douglas Scientific. “Our mission at Douglas Scientific is to make our world a better place. Alexandria is a great place to live and build a biotech entity that affects things global, sociological impact.”

The company’s success has been driven by a unique laboratory application for plant genomics, and is currently preparing five new laboratory applications in Array Tape to expand its global market reach.

The Aagard Group is another Alexandria manufacturing company that has developed some interesting products by creating robotic packaging machines for the food industry. Founded in 1997, Aagard is the second innovative business started by CEO Brenton Smith.

Aagard’s 75,000 square foot facility houses 110 people focused on “Redefine the Standard” in packaging machinery.

“It feels like a lot of growth, but we’re still a small company,” Smith says.

Smith adds that Alexandria has lots of innovators with the entrepreneur spirit in their blood. “When you enjoy building a business, it melts into your life,” he explains. “I don’t know if there is more of this in any other area of the country.”

Smith believes there can be a lot of power in the Alexandria area manufacturing cluster, which currently manufactures about 6 percent of the packaging machines purchased nationwide. “While we somewhat compete for customers, we significantly compete for talented people,” Smith explains.

Aagard and Douglas Machine are both involved in a local packaging, machinery, manufacturing consortium whose goal is to attract, train, and retrain talent.

“Right now, the entire industry is doing well,” Smith states. “We’re all looking for talent.”

Technical and community college taking on the work force challenge

The Alexandria Technical & Community College is working to provide not only the workforce for manufacturers in Alexandria, but also those associated with health care and other companies in the community.

The technical and community college, which celebrated its 50th birthday in 2010, prides itself on working with the industries to determine programs. The two-year school is constantly in the top 1 percent of job placement in the nation.

“We’re a critical component of the community,” states Dr. Kevin Kopischke, President of the two-year school that has 45 different programs and 4,200 students. When the school started in 1961 there were three programs and 23 students. “We are involved in economic development and we are helping Alexandria become a critical rural regional center.”

Kopischke says there is a challenge of skills gap in connecting young people to be more aware of the opportunities for them.

Working to fill needs in health care

The health care industry is also in need of the school’s graduates. The community has four health care facilities that work in unison. They include the Douglas County Hospital, Heartland Orthopedic Center, Broadway Medical Center, and Alexandria Clinic.

For example, the Alexandria Clinic has grown from 12 physicians to 32 physicians in the past 20 years. In addition, the county hospital has added a new addition that includes a surgical unit and pediatric unit. The hospital is licensed for 120 beds.

“The community has very strong programs,” states Carl Vaagenes, Chief Executive Officer, Douglas County Hospital. “When you talk to businesses, when they are recruiting employees, schools and health care is a real asset. They have access to regional health care.”

It is estimated that the health care facilities in Alexandria service more than 85,000 people.

“We have most of the basic services here,” says Tim Hunt, CEO, Alexandria Clinic. “We have all the facets of a good place to live. Being on I-94 has helped the community. We have easy access to larger communities like Fargo-Moorhead and the Twin Cities.”

Hunt adds that it is easy to recruit to Alexandria because of that balance.

Financially stable

David Kjos, President of Bremer Bank in Alexandria, states that the financial industry is healthy in the community and the region. In part, this is true because the agriculture industry is very strong.

“Prices are up and crop yields are up,” he states.

It also helps that unemployment is hovering around 5.8 percent in July, while much of the state’s average is around 9 percent.

“The banks are very active in our community,” Kjos explains. “We are active working with clients and helping meet their needs. Younger clients are sitting down and working with us to develop business plans.”

Kjos adds that recently the numbers of new loans has been low because people are hesitant and the Alexandria region is a very conservative market. “I don’t think we have suffered like in other areas,” he says.

Developing Alexandria in the future

Mayor Dan Ness has been Alexandria’s mayor for the past 11 years. He can list several reasons why Alexandria continues to grow. A few reasons are an active economic development agency and volunteer board, progressive group of professional bankers, and the partnerships with the community and technical college.

Another reason is the strong tourism and visitor industry.

Coni McKay, Executive Director, Alexandria Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce, says with people doing less traveling in general, that has had an impact on tourism to a degree. “We are nicely positioned between two major destination hubs,” she says. “We didn’t feel the impact of other communities. Having the interstate by us is really important to us.”

McKay says what is amazing is that tourism has a huge impact on retail because vacationers tend to shop. “Tourism, by strict definition, is not just people coming on vacation, it also applies to people coming here for other reasons,” she explains.

The future looks great for the tourism and industry business, according to McKay. “We have seen increased traffic this year compared to last year. “Even with technology, visitors continue to use our traveler’s center. There is something about walking in to the visitor’s center to find out more about a community.”

Ness also believes that the new economic development era in Alexandria is going to have global influences. It also involves expansions in the community. These expansions include: a new police station in May 2010, $32 million hospital expansion, $10 million addition to the Alexandria Technical & Community College, $9 million YMCA project, and a $48.8 million expansion to 3M.

In addition, Alexandria has used funds from the JOBZ Minnesota program for construction and job creation. The JOBZ program was developed in 2003 to help stimulate economic development in rural Minnesota by providing local and state tax exemptions to offer assistance to value-added manufacturing and industrial, or high wage service-type businesses.

Alexandria has used the program to help with an estimated $65.7 million in construction projects, as well as retaining 780 jobs and creating 164 more jobs.

Murray believes there will be continued growth in the manufacturing industry. “It is very stable and currently growing,” he says.

Ness adds that the industrial base is a well-kept secret. “People don’t know that some of these companies exist,” he says. “They don’t realize how huge, how modern, and the automation within these facilities.”

Work force and housing still a major challenge

The major challenges that come to the forefront for Alexandria are work force and housing.

“The challenge is to connect young people to be more aware of opportunities that are out there for them,” Kopischke says. “We are working to connect high schools and colleges and align programs of study for them to succeed.”

In addition, Kopischke states that the community is also working with adults who are re-entering the job market. “The job market is becoming more complex and there are new kinds of skill sets needed,” he explains.

Kopischke adds that there are more young people moving back and are becoming involved in critical leadership roles. “That is making a difference,” he says.

Kjos adds that the Alexandria community is really a regional center. “People think its 10,000 people, but it is actually more than that,” he explains.

But all agree that more needs to be done moving into the future.

“Critical investments are needed to take us into the future,” Murray states. “The next two to three years are critical next steps for Alexandria.” PB