State Awards 2 More Grants to Becker Business Park

BECKER -- The state has awarded two more grants totaling nearly $1 million to the Becker Business Park project.

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development is giving $455,000 to the city to go towards sewer and water infrastructure improvements.

Community Development Director Marie Pflipsen says that is in addition to the $20.5 million they received in the state bonding bill in October.

Sherburne County was also awarded $500,000 for preliminary designs for a new interchange for Highways 10 and 25 in Becker, which improves access to the business park.

All of this money is on top of the $760,000 grant DEED awarded Becker in December of 2019.

Becker is still in talks with Google trying to convince them to build a data center in the city, which has not been finalized yet.

The most recent grants are going to cities that are losing local electric generating plants. Xcel Energy's Sherco unit two is being shut down in 2023, unit one is going off line in 2026, and unit three will stop being used in 2030.

Get our free mobile app