In the company of Governor Mark Dayton, two businesses broke ground on new expansions in Brooklyn Park Tuesday, developments that will add more than 30 new jobs.
 
The intersection of Highway 169 and Highway 610 is the site for the new North Cross Business Park, which will house new headquarters for Wurth Adams Nut & Bolt and Perbix Machines.
 
Elsewhere in the state, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) announced Wednesday that Custom Products, a maker of cabs and protective structures for the operators of off-highway vehicles, is adding 20,000 square feet to its Litchfield facility along with 31 new jobs.

 
Wurth Adams, which distributes nuts, bolts, and other types of fasteners, announced in June that it would relocate from Maple Grove to Brooklyn Park in a $27.5 million expansion that will create 20 new jobs. The company said it needed additional office and warehouse space to keep up with its business growth.
 
Perbix, which provides manufacturing and engineering services, said at the end of July that it would be moving its headquarters from Golden Valley to Brooklyn Park and would invest $1.1 million in tenant renovations while creating 12 new jobs.
 
DEED awarded Wurth Adams $590,000 in funding, Perbix $139,000, and Custom Products $231,000, for their expansions. The funding is contingent on the three companies meeting their job creation goals.
 
According to the state, these business expansions were largely due to its “Corridors of Commerce” initiative, which funds transportation projects that would help promote economic development. In 2013, the Minnesota Department of Transportation awarded $130 million in funding to extend Highway 610 from County Road 81 and Elm Creek Boulevard to Interstate 94, which the state said was crucial in bringing business expansions to Brooklyn Park.
 
“I thank Wurth Adams for this very important expansion, and for the new jobs it will create,” Dayton said in a statement. “The investments by the Minnesota Job Creation Fund and the Corridors of Commerce have helped finance Wurth Adams’ expansion and the urgently needed improvements to Hwy. 610.”
 
According to DEED, Minnesota added 8,500 new jobs in June and the state’s unemployment rate is at 4.5 percent—which is the lowest in over seven years.