ION Corporation, a Twin Cities-based aerospace company with clients including NASA and Northrop Grumman, announced plans to build a 50,000-square-foot facility to employ more than 100 people as the anchor for a new development district at Washington Avenue and Broadway in North Minneapolis.
“In North Minneapolis, we make great foods, North Minneapolitans make great music, and now North Minneapolitans make spaceships!” said Jacob Frey at Friday’s announcement. “This will result in extraordinary products. This will result in NASA getting a wonderful benefit from the incredible people we have on the north side.”
ION President Wendell Maddox, a Minneapolis native, said he intends to hire a variety of roles, from trainees with a high school diploma all the way up to professional engineers. He also said he believes the project could help spur $100 million in economic development for the region.
Developers like Anthony Taylor with Minneapolis Forward Now and the River North District hope this kind of development can help the city as a whole turn the corner from a tumultuous few years of riots, crime, and the pandemic.
“I think that we are in a moment right now where we are redefining things for ourselves and redefining the communities we want to live in,” said Taylor.