The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) announced that it has awarded $452,000 from DEED’s Innovative Business Development Public Infrastructure Program (IBDPI) to assist with constructing streets and utilities to the Ag Innovation Campus (AIC) in Crookston.

“We are excited to earn this grant and thank DEED for their continued support of the AIC,” Acting AIC CEO Tom Slunecka said. “This is another important building block toward creating the full AIC vision.”

The AIC is a specialty soybean crush facility designed to help advance new crops and new processing equipment. These technologies will focus on creating value for food and feed manufacturers. The facility will research higher-quality specialty soybeans as well as new strains of oil seed crops. AIC will invest $30 million in the facility and will create 40 jobs. The AIC is hosting a grand opening ceremony with farmers, industry leaders and elected officials Sept. 14 in Crookston.

“Public infrastructure grants like these help foster economic development in communities throughout Minnesota,” said DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek. “We’re excited these grants will help Crookston create and retain good-paying jobs.”

DEED is the state’s principal economic development agency, promoting business recruitment, expansion and retention, workforce development, international trade and community development.