Governor Helps Break Ground on Owatonna Business Expansion

July 11, 2014

Daikin Applied Americas adding 40 new jobs in Owatonna, wages and benefits average $31 per hour 

OWATONNA, MN – Friday morning, Governor Mark Dayton helped break ground on a $9 million expansion of Daikin Applied Americas’ manufacturing facility in Owatonna. The new expansion, which received $1.45 million in state assistance from the state’s Minnesota Job Creation Fund and Minnesota Investment Fund, will create 40 new jobs in Owatonna with wages and benefits averaging $31 per hour.

“The Minnesota Job Creation Fund was launched just six months ago. It has already helped finance business expansions, like Daikin Applied’s, throughout our state, which have added hundreds of new jobs,” said Governor Dayton. “I thank Daikin Applied for its very important expansion in Owatonna and for its continued commitment to Minnesota.”

Daikin Applied is one of 15 companies that have received assistance from the Minnesota Job Creation Fund over the last six months to help finance a business expansion in Minnesota. Altogether, Daikin Applied received $880,000 from the Fund. In 2013, Governor Dayton and the Legislature invested $24 million in the initiative, which provides up to $1 million to qualifying businesses planning to expand and create new jobs in Minnesota.

Daikin Applied also received $600,000 from the Minnesota Investment Fund for its expansion. In 2013, Governor Dayton and the Legislature invested $30 million of ongoing funding in the initiative, which provides financing to help add new workers and retain high-quality jobs on a statewide basis. Between 2005 and 2012, the program saw an 86 percent decline in state funding. But new, ongoing funding provided by Governor Dayton and the Legislature is projected to help create thousands of new jobs and leverage hundreds of millions of dollars in private investment in the state’s economy.

About Daikin
Daikin Applied, a member of Daikin Industries, Ltd., manufactures commercial HVAC systems. Daikin Industries, Ltd. is a Fortune 1000 company with more than 51,000 employees worldwide, making it the largest HVAC manufacturer in the world. Daikin is engaged primarily in the development, manufacture, sales and aftermarket support of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) equipment.

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