Maple Grove to gain a $4 million R&D center

Canadian-based heating and air conditioning firm Price Mechanical announced Friday it will open a $4 million R&D facility in Maple Grove.

The project will create an 11,745-square-foot building and add 40 employees to the Twin Cities due, in part, to a $700,000 forgivable loan from the Minnesota Investment Fund.

The investment by the Winnipeg-based maker of heating, ventilation and air conditioning products was heralded by state officials.

"We are pleased that Price chose Minnesota for an R&D facility that will bring new, good-paying jobs to the state," said Gov. Mark Dayton in a statement. "I thank the company for committing to Minnesota and we will work with them to ensure their long-term ­success in Maple Grove."

Officials with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development noted that the Price Mechanical expansion represents the 110th company to commit to a new project this year. But the research positions offered by Price are especially coveted.

A manufacturing study released earlier this week by the Congressional Joint Economic Committee and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., found that the addition of just one "advanced" manufacturing job in research or engineering tends to ­support 4.9 other jobs. So while 40 jobs is a small number, it packs an economic punch, committee members and state officials said.

Price's new R&D center is the latest in a string of moves by manufacturers to beef up their R&D might in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. In the past year and a half, Valspar Corp., 3M Co., Toro Co., Polaris Industries Inc. and others began expanding their research capabilities in the Twin ­Cities. Collectively, those R&D projects will cost more than $200 million to build and should add more than 165 high-paying jobs.

Price Mechanical CEO Ron Hanlon said he is pleased with the company's decision. "We studied various locations around North America and settled on Minnesota due to the availability of engineering and technical workers as well as a demonstrated innovative and productive workforce," Hanlon said.