City plans ‘jobs driver’

Talk about it

WORTHINGTON — The Worthington City Council is continuing preliminary discussions on a project that City Administrator Craig Clark said could be a “jobs driver” for southwest Minnesota.

The city and its collaborators hope to build an addition to the south side of the business incubator in Worthington’s Bioscience Park.

The laboratory and classroom space provided by the addition, called the Worthington Area Training and Testing Center, could serve many purposes for potential tenants, including the Department of Employment and Economic Development, the University of Minnesota Extension Center, Minnesota State University, Mankato and the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute.

“It’s all intending to be a jobs driver for southwest Minnesota, having that kind of resource available for businesses,” Clark said Wednesday of the proposed center, which will be funded by a $1.3 million state grant. “It’s all about creating those synergies for business development.”

The center is a joint effort of Worthington Regional Economic Development Corp. (WREDC), Minnesota West Community and Technical College, the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, the City of Worthington and local businesses. The city bought the county’s share of the building in December 2008.

The council will also continue discussion about how to balance the city budget following Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s June announcement that he expected to unallot about $200 million in Local Government Aid payments to cities during the next two years. Worthington faces a cut of about $629,100.

More information about the city’s budget-balancing efforts should be available in early August, Clark said.

Tags: state and region, worthington city council, craig clark, news, politics