3M Health Care Spinoff Plans $209M R&D Facility in Eagan
When 3M announced two years ago that it would spin off its health care business into a separate company, many Minnesotans feared the new entity would eventually relocate out of state. An announcement from Gov. Tim Walz’s office this week indicates the new company is likely to stay put.
On Wednesday, the governor’s office said that Solventum plans to invest $209 million on a new research and development facility in Eagan. The company is getting $13 million from the state toward the effort, which Walz’s office described as an “expansion.” The money comes from two separate pots of state dollars: the Job Creation Fund and Minnesota Investment Fund. Those two funds recently provided $5 million to Sofidel to expand its paper mill in Duluth.
Walz’s release said that Solventum’s expansion will retain about 2,000 Minnesota jobs, though it doesn’t appear that all of those will be at the new Eagan facility. In a notice last week about Solventum’s plans, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development said that the company “expects to retain 1,972 jobs in Minnesota which includes 1,101 in Eagan.”
And while the governor’s office didn’t disclose the location of the facility, the Star Tribune reported earlier this month that Solventum is planning a $209 million upgrade of a former Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota building at Yankee Doodle Road in Eagan.
In the governor’s news release, Solventum CEO Bryan Hanson said that “Minnesota’s support was instrumental in our decision to reinvest in the Twin Cities area.”
“We look forward to continued growth as a global healthcare leader and a strong partnership with the State and City of Eagan,” he said.
For 2023, Solventum reported $8.2 billion in revenue, which was about a quarter of 3M’s entire revenue that year.
Solventum will move to Eagan from its existing campus in Maplewood, where 3M is headquartered.
