Honeywell declines to quantify its commitment to Minnesota

Honeywell International officials said last week that the company will maintain a presence in the Twin Cities after it spins off two businesses into independently traded companies at the end of this year. The Minnesota presence may be diminished by the moves.

Honeywell was founded in Minneapolis but moved its headquarters to New Jersey after Allied Signal bought the company in 1999.

Honeywell still has sizable operations in the Twin Cities and employs 3,300 Minnesotans, including 1,700 in Golden Valley.

It is unclear how many employees Honeywell-related entities will retain in the Twin Cities after the split.

Traditionally, Honeywell's building-controls business, which is based in Golden Valley, has made energy-efficiency and automated-temperature controls used in 150 million-plus homes and by more than 10 million commercial customers.

In a recent e-mail, Honeywell Homes spokesman Trent Perrotto said, "The Twin Cities continue to be an important location for Honeywell and the future stand-alone company, Resideo, with its rich history and more than 1,000 employees supporting our business and functions. The [Golden Valley] facility will become a split site after the [Honeywell] Homes spinoff happens at the end of the year. Resideo will own the facility and Honeywell will maintain a presence at the site."

Resideo, the soon-to-be spun-off home products and global distribution company, will focus on residential heating, venting and air-conditioning products and distributing security and fire-protection systems. Resideo will have about 13,000 global employees and about $4.5 billion in annual sales, officials said.

Honeywell, after the spinoffs, will focus on aerospace, performance materials, building technologies and safety solutions.

Honeywell last spring named Michael Nefkens, a former Hewlett-Packard executive, to lead Resideo.

The transportation business will get a new name and focus on engineering, auto and truck engines and other vehicle technologies. It will be based in Switzerland.

DEE DEPASS and NEAL ST. ANTHONY

Minnesota saw a higher than average increase in liquor-tax receipts last year, according to data that give a first peek at the potential impact of Sunday sales.

For the past decade, the growth has averaged about 2.9 percent each fiscal year. The tax collected has grown from $137.8 million in fiscal 2008 to $186.5 million in the last fiscal year.

While there was an increase in alcohol-tax revenue, the increase wasn't the largest bump seen in recent years.

Because the tax is not reported or taxed based on the day of the week, there isn't a clear way to determine how much of the growth could be directly attributed to Sunday sales.

The data combine two alcohol-related tax-revenue sources: the alcohol-beverage tax that is paid by the wholesaler and the liquor gross-receipts tax, which is paid by the consumer during a purchase.

Response has been mixed from local liquor-store owners about whether the additional amount of beer, wine and liquor sold on Sundays offsets the costs of being open an additional day.

Nicole Norfleet and Neal St. Anthony

Dominium, the apartment-complex developer, is the latest corporate partner to sign up with Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity.

In its first year of home sponsorship, Dominium is providing $50,000 and 100 volunteers to support the building of a Habitat home in the Jordan neighborhood of north Minneapolis for a working-poor family that will invest sweat equity and qualify for a no-interest mortgage.

"Corporate support, the financing and volunteer groups are the backbone of our system," said Habitat CEO Chris Coleman.

In the fiscal year that ended June 30, Habitat helped 93 families achieve homeownership through its new-construction, rehab and low-cost financing programs, including home-buyer education.

Habitat was bolstered this year by a 10-year, $25 million credit agreement with Minnesota Housing that will help boost housing production.

Habitat targets working-class households who make 30 to 80 percent of the median Twin Cities household income of around $70,000.