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Pine County backs $100,000 state loan application to help At Scott Manufacturing expand
Summary
The Pine County Board voted to support a $100,000 Minnesota Investment Fund application to seed the county revolving loan fund for At Scott Manufacturing’s planned 12,000 sq. ft. addition, a $2.6 million project the company says would create about 15 jobs and position it to fulfill federal contracts.
Pine County commissioners voted to support a county application for a $100,000 Minnesota Investment Fund loan to help At Scott Manufacturing build a 12,000-square-foot assembly building and expand machining capacity.
Leslie Sauter, the county’s economic development coordinator, told the board the funds would be added to the county’s revolving loan fund and then loaned to the company at terms set by the county’s loan committee. “One of those resources is through the Department of Employment and Economic Development…our ask to the state would be for a $100,000,” Sauter said.
Steve Birch, CEO of At Scott Manufacturing, said the $2.6 million building and associated equipment purchases are intended to raise the company’s production capacity so it can respond to large federal orders, including a planned U.S. Customs and Border Patrol project. “We have to expand our facility in order to meet that need,” Birch said, adding the expansion would support roughly 15 new, highly paid jobs. Birch told commissioners the company expects to begin hiring late this year or early next year.
The project package discussed at the hearing includes a roughly $2.6 million investment for the new building and phased additions of machining equipment; Birch said the business projects nearly $5 million more in sales this year compared with last and already employs about 80 people across two shifts. Sauter said the county will coordinate application and administration work with partners including the East Central Regional Development Commission and the Initiative Foundation.
Commissioners asked about local contracting and county capacity to administer state grant and loan paperwork. Birch said local firms are being used for site work and construction; Sauter and staff said they would manage deadlines and paperwork and that the county’s economic development arm would administer the grant if awarded.
The board moved and seconded a resolution (Resolution 2026‑21) supporting submission of the Minnesota Investment Fund application. A motion to support the resolution was made and seconded during the meeting and the board voted in favor; the transcript records the motion and a recorded “aye” from one commissioner and shows the resolution passed.
What’s next: The county will finalize the MIF and Job Creation Fund application numbers and submit them to the state for review. If the state approves the award, the funds would flow to the county’s revolving loan fund and be loaned to At Scott per the loan committee’s terms.
