Goal: To get Polaris

By Barbara Brown
One of the worldís largest manufacturers of snowmobile and recreational vehicles is shopping around to find land on which to build a new research and development facility.
Polaris hired two firms to locate land and take applications from cities and towns in Chisago County and in Wisconsin on how much space the towns could have available for a planned 95,000 square-foot building.
North Branch had been approached by one of the firms working for Polaris regarding the possibility of locating to North Branch on 600 acres near 1-35.
North Branch finance director Dave Stutelberg said North Branch was one of three sites that won a bid for consideration in Chisago County. Wyoming and Lent townships also made the Minnesota list.
Three other sites had been considered in Wisconsin as well, Stutelberg said.
Several weeks ago, city staff believed Polaris had narrowed the field even more to considering only North Branch or Osceola, Wisc.
Stutelberg said he received information that Wyoming was no longer being considered as one of the final possible locations because the cost of the land was prohibitive, he said.
That position changed recently when Polaris officials met with Wyoming Township officials to discuss building the R&D center on 600 acres where the town currently has its waste water treatment center.
Polaris reported the company would employ more than 250 engineers and staff members at the new site ñ wherever it is built. Payroll for the first year of business is estimated at $22.5 million.
Stutelberg said city staff started working with Polaris to see where property owners in the suggested building area stood on the question of selling their property.
He said that may be the one point that could hurt North Branchís chances at convincing Polaris to build here.
In June, Polaris and city officials met with property owners to lay out the scope of the plans and get a feel of whether they would sell.
ìThe Wyoming property is owned by only one entity (City of Wyoming),î Stutelberg said. ìHere, we have 20 different property owners. Itís easier to work with one owner than a bunch of them.î
Stutelberg said Polaris officials had told him and others that they wanted to come in and be good neighbors from the start and that they didnít want any bad blood between the corporation and residents.
While Stutelberg would like to see North Branch get the final nod for the facility, he said the discussions are still up in the air, somewhat.
ìWe think the talks may not be over yet,î Stutelberg said. ìWe will be extremely happy just to see Chisago County get the facility. Our main goal is to get Polaris to Chisago County.î

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