The new facility is projected to be located on a 13-acre building site is west of the Cybex campus on SW 18th Street close to the intersection of I-35 and Minnesota state highway 14. Minimizer says the city of Owatonna passed a vote Tuesday, Aug. 20, to sell the land to the company, which now has a signed purchase agreement with the city.
The move is a key step in the company’s long-term growth plan says CEO Christopher Thorpe.
“Given our current and future sales growth, as well as new product introductions, the new facility is a necessity,” he says. “We are currently operating out of three buildings and we are simply out of room in Blooming Prairie, Minn., and need more efficient space.”
Minimizer currently employs 83 people across three separate campuses in Blooming Prairie. The proposed site in Owatonna will house all employees in one facility while substantially increasing the company’s operating space from 54,000 sq.-ft. to 96,000 sq.-ft.
“We explored several different options, including existing commercial real estate, but there was nothing available that could meet our needs,” Thorpe says. “We then decided to build a facility that would gain us the most efficiencies and meet our needs for the foreseeable future.”
He adds the company evaluated many area cities and also looked at expanding in Blooming Prairie, but Owatonna was the best choice as a business-friendly area with room for current requirements and future growth.
“Blooming Prairie will always be known as the place where Minimizer started,” Thorpe says “This site in Owatonna also offers a chance to expand our footprint an additional one hundred thousand square feet, if necessary.”
Employees were notified of the move on Aug. 15. Thorpe adds Minimizer hopes to break ground on the new facility next month and plans to be moved in by the spring of 2021.
“We want our employees in on the ground floor of this project,” Thorpe says. “The new facility represents a better work environment for everyone, as well as more amenities, so employee input and feedback is critical.”
Of the current 83 Minimizer employees, 66 work in Blooming Prairie, while the remaining 17 are located across the United States and Canada. The company will work with incentive programs to help employees impacted by the move.
“Our employees are the backbone of Minimizer. We had opportunities to construct a new facility in other cities, but Owatonna is only 20 miles from Blooming Prairie and we didn’t want to lose our current workforce when they are vitally important to our future success,” Thorpe says.
