RED WING — The Red Wing City Council voted unanimously to approve the criteria for marketing and evaluating potential businesses at the Gateway Business Park.
The 18-acre business park, formerly the Central Research Laboratories site at the intersection of Minnesota highways 61 and 19, is being marketed by the St. Paul Port Authority through a deal struck with the city of Red Wing, which has owned the property for more than 10 years.
"Just getting some box out there with some jobs is good, but … we should strive to do better," said Council Member Evan Brown. "We need something we can say positions Red Wing for the future and sets us apart, in honoring the historic activity that has happened on this site. I think that is doable and meaningful."
One criteria would be any business moving onto the site would need to generate 0.5 FTEs — full-time equivalent jobs — for every 1,000 square feet of building space. With a goal of 30 percent of the site built up, that would mean a range of 100 to 200 jobs, according to the agreement approved.
To count, the jobs would need to meet minimum standards of $13 per hour for a job with benefits and $15.60 for a job without benefits.
