2016 Lakeville Manufacturers Appreciation Reception

Our team had the honor of attending the 2016 Lakeville Manufacturers Appreciation Reception last evening at the Holiday Inn and Suites just off of County Road 70 and I-35 in beautiful Lakeville, Minnesota. 

This is an annual event our entire team looks forward to each October, and this year was no exception. In fact, this year, the City of Lakeville staff worked very hard on an impressive video which summarized the history of the Airlake Industrial Park. The Airlake Industrial Park is our backyard and where we first started our business almost 30 years ago. Thus, this year’s focus on the history of the park is near and dear to our hearts.

In this video, you will learn about the history of Airlake Park and how it has grown to be the second largest industrial park in the state of Minnesota. Additionally, you will see some pictures of and commentary from our fearless leader, Jack Matasosky, which is sure to bring a smile to your face – we know it certainly did for our team!

Simply click on the image below to watch the video, “History of Airlake Industrial Park” created by the team at the City of Lakeville. 

 

 

After viewing the video, you may also click on the following related links, which may be of interest to you:

 

As we attended last evening’s event, as with each year, we find ourselves grateful to serve our local community over the years and the opportunity this event affords our us and our community to thank all manufacturers and those who are a part of the industrial park (transporters and distributors, too!) for their very important role. We sincerely appreciate the opportunity to be a part of the success of our friends and neighbors in Lakeville, Minnesota!

Our team has been honored to be a part of the growth of the Airlake Industrial Park. Today, we continue to erect new buildings as the park continues to grow. And, our APPRO team is continually helping business owners alter their buildings to meet their ever changing needs through additions, expansions and remodels of their already existing spaces. Likewise, our CERRON team continues to help owners find new space in existing buildings within the park.

Whatever the space need, our team is available to help. If you find that your space needs have changed, we hope that you will consider working with our team.

 

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Manufacturing & Increased Need in Southern MN

The state of manufacturing and the increased need for personnel in the industrial sector of Southern MN is making the news. As published in the Owatonna People’s Press, Kim Hyatt’s article, “Minnesota’s manufacturers are confident in economy, wish for more workers,” explores the current need for skilled manufacturers in Southern Minnesota.

In this article, Hyatt discusses a recent presentation by Bob Kill, president and CEO of Enterprise Minnesota, as he presented findings from the 2015 State of Manufacturing survey. The survey results indicated an all time high confidence level among manufacturers, at the same time these same manufacturers are finding it a challenge to fill positions. As a result, many companies are working with area schools and technical colleges, opening their doors, and educating the next generation about the abundant opportunities available in this field.

Our team at APPRO and CERRON hears these same sentiments on a daily basis from the clients we work with. We would strongly encourage students in high school to explore the opportunities available in this industry. As you drive through the industrial park where our offices are located, you see sign after sign of industrial companies seeking help. The opportunities and the variety of careers are abundant!

 

 

You may also be interested in some of our related articles:

MN Manufacturing Online Resources

Manufacturing Lean Process

Industrial & Manufacturing Construction on the rise

Completed Buildings for Manufacturers

Completed Office Warehouse Projects

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MN Manufacturing Online Resource Available: Made in Minnesota

MN Manufacturing Industry – An Online Resource is Available!

MN Manufacturing Made in MN LogoMN Manufacturing Industry…there is an online resource available to you, and you may not be aware of this opportunity! APPRO Development and CERRON Commercial Properties are fortunate to work a lot with the manufacturing industry. So, when we come across relevant topics, we are eager to share.

Last Fall 2013, the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) for the State of Minnesota created and released a database specific to the manufacturing industry: Made in Minnesota. There is no cost for participation in this database. It is simple, easy to use, and only takes a couple of minutes to enter your information – HERE. When you sign up, you will be joining 823 other companies (and growing) already registered in the database, according to the Small Business 101 blog post, “A Holiday Gift for Manufacturers that’s Made in Minnesota”. We were impressed by the information found here and the possible opportunities which could result from MN manufacturers working together.

On a local level, we attend the Manufacturers Appreciation Event, hosted by the City of Lakeville every fall, in our own backyard, occurring during our Minnesota statewide Manufacturers Week. Over the years, we have found that neighboring businesses had no idea what the other manufactured until being introduced to one another at this event. As a result, neighboring businesses were able to work with one another, resulting in benefits for each company.

By having this same information available on a large scale, and with the ease of an electronic database, Minnesota companies have a fantastic opportunity to work with one another, and to keep our manufacturing dollars close to home.

Just thought our friends in the manufacturing industry might want to know!

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Manufacturing Trends to be Thankful For in MN

Manufacturing Trends

2014 Predictions in the Manufacturing Industry

Manufacturing Trends to be Thankful For is an article we read this morning in the online publication of Industry Week. All of us, in MN or the Midwest for that matter, who are either in the manufacturing industry or have close ties to the manufacturing industry, are eager to see what the days of 2014 will bring. According to this article, “Favorable Forecast: Five Manufacturing Trends to Be Thankful For” by John Mills as published in Industry Week (online), 2014 might just prove to be year for which to be thankful!

According to the article, the following are the top five trends to watch this year:

  1. Improvements in 3-D printers
  2. Business returning from China
  3. More ‘real-time’ enterprises
  4. The rise of the project economy
  5. More access to data

As Mills states, “no one has perfect foresight” and it certainly would be nice if we did! However, in the meantime, by measuring trends and current data available, we are optimistic for our colleagues in the manufacturing industry. We hope 2014 results in the optimistic forecast, as it benefits not only MN, ND, WI, IA, SD, MT in the Midwest, but our great nation as well!

APPRO Development is a general contractor specializing in property solutions for manufacturers across the Midwest for more than 27 years. APPRO assists business owners find optimal property solutions that may result in renovations, expansions, additions or new commercial buildings to meet the ever changing needs of the manufacturing industry in Lakeville (55044), Apple Valley(55124), Burnsville(55337), Eagan(55123), Hastings(55033), and all of Dakota, Scott, Rice, Carver, Ramsey and Hennepin counties as well as Mankato and surrounding communities of Blue Earth in Minnesota. If your commercial or industrial space needs are changing as the result of a great 2014, contact our team today to help you minimize impacts to your manufacturing schedule, meet your budget requirements, and assist you in making 2014 a great year!

Secrets, secrets are no fun… Changes to LEED v4

Changes to LEED v4 – APPRO Architect Casie Radford Discusses Recent LEED Activity

 

LEEDBuilding-APPRO Development discussion of recent LEED v4 changes LEED Building. Source: Oregon-DOT (Flickr)

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) has been the primary program for certifying the sustainability and “greenness” of buildings for the past 15 years. Now LEED v4 has come out and the focus on the building industry has been expanded to include the manufacturing industry, particularly as it relates to materials and resources. The focus and responsibility is not off the building and construction industry, but will trickle down the line to understand more clearly where and how materials (and the raw materials involved) are manufactured and with what they are manufactured. Sustainability reporting is no longer the exclusive responsibility of the building industry.

Manufacturers and materials suppliers will now have stronger motivation to complete life cycle assessments (LCA) or they could see a decline in demand, as the use of their products for more than just one LEED credit won’t be allowed. Best to take care of LCAs, EPDs, and HPDs (mentioned later), before the requirement goes into full effect and LCAs may be harder to complete in a timely or cost effective manner. Don’t worry though, projects can file under the previous version of LEED up until 2015.

One interesting factoid about the revised credits are that one LEED point can be obtained if a manufacturer of a building product discloses information related to environmental and health impacts – even if it is not environmentally friendly or healthy. I understand the importance of honesty here and also that “transparency drives improvement for business”, but what about the point of LEED in the first place. Isn’t there another way to promote safe materials? Why should a product be rewarded by being honest if not an otherwise LEED credit acceptable material?

Utilizing LCA as a tool to assess products is an important tool for evaluating the true energy and environmental impacts a product has. A new tool created for product assessment is the Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) which is a third-party verified LCA. This tool will enable a product to achieve additional points if the impacts to the environment are below industry averages. This goes to show that a peer review is never undervalued. Similar to the transparency point, you can still get one LEED point for just having an EPD.

Supply chain information, for certified wood for example, is often viewed as highly confidential. To achieve a credit for the responsible sourcing of all raw materials; however, manufacturers are required to report extraction locations and supplier commitments for 90% of a product’s raw materials. The aim for LEED is to reward those who already openly disclose and communicate with suppliers to avoid future issues.

LEED v4 will also address hazardous materials by requiring companies to declare every ingredient more than 0.1% (by weight). For declaration alone one LEED point can be achieved, while another point can be had by proving they are dodging hazardous materials as determined by the government. The Health Product Declaration (HPD) has been created as a format for reporting a product’s ingredients.

Have concerns about commercial or industrial building materials or manufacturers; or, want to know more about how LEED has an impact on your next building project? Contact the APPRO Design and Architecture team for more information HERE.

Lakeville Manufacturers Appreciation Reception 2013

This Year’s Lakeville Manufacturers Appreciation Reception Was the Best!

Mayor Little & Adam K at Manufacturers Reception 2013 - photo by APPRO Development Mayor Matt Little and Adam Kienberger, Economic Development Specialist announce awards from the prize drawing

The APPRO and CERRON team had the opportunity to attend the annual Lakeville Manufacturers Appreciation Reception this year, and found it to be the best in many years (if not ever)! We sincerely appreciated the opportunity to connect with many of our local neighbors; some we have known for years, and some we met for the first time. Every time we attend the event, we learn something new and that is what makes it so much fun! The businesses in Lakeville are doing some amazing things.

This event is hosted by the City of Lakeville, and was sponsored by MN Energy Resources, Xcel Energy, Frontier and Dakota Electric. This invitation only event was held at the Holiday Inn in Lakeville, MN, just off of I-35 and Kenrick Avenue, on Tuesday, October 22, 2013. In attendance were City of Lakeville staff, City Council Members, Economic Development Commission members, and a diverse representation of the manfacturers & businesses in the Lakeville community. The event is held to celebrate Manufacturers Appreciation Week (October 20-26, 2013). According to the City of Lakeville’s website, “Lakeville has over 3,100 manufacturing jobs amongst 150 businesses. Thank you to all of our manufacturers for being a part of Lakeville’s business community!”

Just shy of 40 companies attended this event and engaged in some great networking and recognition of the manufacturers in our community. If you were considering attending and just didn’t have the opportunity, we urge you to try to make it out to next year’s event. Great reason, great food, great people – you can’t go wrong!

We are grateful to continue our 26th year as a part of this great Lakeville community! If you are Manufacturer in Minnesota and would like to discuss a possible project, give our team a call. We are happy to answer any questions you may have!