High-Level Courtship Yields Minn. Engineering Jobs

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A Canadian company that makes sophisticated heating and ventilation systems will locate a research facility in a Twin Cities suburb.

A top executive from Price Industries joined Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton on Thursday in announcing the project, which grew out of a personal courtship by the governor and a $700,000 state grant toward the facility's construction.

The Winnipeg-based company will put 40 jobs with average pay of $80,000 apiece in Maple Grove. Hiring is already underway. A bigger prize still looms: a factory the company is considering to build machines in the U.S.

Senior vice president Bruce Dorey says the company considered multiple states for the research center. He says the incentive, a personal visit by Dayton to the firm's headquarters and a highly skilled Minnesota workforce tipped the scales.

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