Sherburne County has a strong economy and a bright economic development future.

 

That was the message from David Griggs, vice president of Business Investment & Research for Greater Minneapolis St. Paul (MSP) during a presentation to the county commissioners in June.

 

Greater MSP is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to providing public and private sector leadership, coordination and engagement to grow the economy of the 16-county region.

 

The organization gives an annual report on its programs and services, along with statistics and projections on how each of its member counties is doing.

 

“The information we have for Sherburne County is all great news,” he told members of the board. “You have lower unemployment than the rest of the region, higher job growth, and more importantly, your economic growth continues to rise quicker than most others in the region.”

 

He said Sherburne County has done an excellent job of attracting data centers, which is an indication of good infrastructure. He said companies looking to locate to an area follow a latency study. 

 

“It’s the amount of time for data to transfer from one point to another. It’s measured in milliseconds,” he said. “We did one in 2011 and again last year. Sherburne County is a good spot for that.”

 

He said the county is also in an excellent location.

 

“You’re tucked in between two major markets - St. Cloud and the Twin Cities,” he said. “That really is a strength.”

 

He said MSP also does a study on the workforce, and the area’s workforce is strong. 

 

“You’ve got over 10,000 residents who live and work in Sherburne County, more than 12,000 that come into the county for a job and more than 36,000 that leave Sherburne County every day to go to a job in another county,” he said. “So when there’s a company that announces an expansion in Hennepin or Ramsey or even Pine county, this is good news for Sherburne County because that means you’ve got resident that are getting new jobs or better pay.”

Griggs said the county also has lower housing costs than other similar-sized counties in the state. 

 

“When we work with companies that are looking for places to go, this is the map they’re looking for,” he said, “a place where they’re going to have affordable housing for a workforce that’s high output and high performance.”

 

He said MSP is working with companies like Xcel and Connexus on business investment projects, and they promote areas of potential economic growth, such as the Big Lake rail park.

 

“We’ve been working very closely with a few developers, making them aware of the opportunity,” he said. “I know they are working with county folks trying to make things happen.”

 

Overall, he said, the county stacks up well against other areas, with a lower unemployment rate, higher job growth, higher economic growth and lower home price growth.