Government partnership helps Digi-Key expansion

Huge cost and competitive hurdles needed to be overcome compared to other location options, but "The State of Minnesota and local Thief River Falls and Pennington County leaders took decisive action to support our growth", according to Dave Doherty, Digi-Key's President and Chief Operating Officer. Kevin McKinnon, Deputy Secretary at the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, on behalf of Governor Mark Dayton, helped craft the initial legislative solution. Governor Dayton said, "I am extremely grateful to Digi-Key for its commitment to Minnesota and the Thief River Falls community. I congratulate Digi-Key on its planned expansion, which will create over 1,000 new jobs in Thief River Falls. Digi-Key is truly a fantastic success story." The economic return for the state of Minnesota will be approximately USD 184 million in NEW annual state revenue, or almost USD 2 billion over 10 years generated by Digi-Key's expansion in addition to the 1'000+ new jobs that will be created in Thief River Falls. The project will not impact the current tax base. Brian Holmer, Mayor of Thief River Falls, stated, "Our community worked hard to ensure Digi-Key's project will be located here because as Digi-Key expands its global reach, it creates good jobs in Greater Minnesota". "We want to extend a huge ‘thank you' to state legislators, community leaders, and countless others who have helped us achieve this milestone in our expansion project," said Rick Trontvet, Digi-Key Vice President of Administration and Human Resources. "We are excited for the opportunity to continue serving our community and state by bringing more investment and more jobs to Northwest Minnesota."