Minnkota Powered Inside the cooperative’s new HQ

By Tom dennis

After World War II, three diesel generators off a U.S. Navy ship got repurposed about as far from the ocean as you can get: inside Minnkota Power Cooperative’s diesel plant in Grand Forks, N.D.

“They generated power for the whole region,” said Ben Fladhammer, external communications and marketing supervisor for the cooperative.

That was then. This is now:

Minnkota Power wholesales electric power generated in extensive coal, wind and hydroelectric facilities to 11 member-owned co-ops around eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota.

And in November, Minnkota moved its offices for the first time since the 1940s, vacating its buildings on the old diesel-plant site and shifting to a $65 million, 252,000-square-foot facility on the southwest corner of Grand Forks.

“It was about a four-year process of looking at things,” Fladhammer said.

“And ultimately, it was decided that this would be the best use of the money, rather than keep trying to put money into a 70-year-old building.”

Besides offices and better security, the new facility offers storage for large equipment as well as heated shop and delivery spaces, a welcome change for many linemen and others who’d worked in older and less-comfortable spaces for years.

The facility also has been designed to be as energy-efficient as possible. A geothermal system involving more than 600 285-foot-deep wells heats the building in winter and cools it in summer. LED lighting, motion sensors for that lighting and automated temperature controls add to the efficiencies.

Importantly, the cooperative stayed local in choosing who’d see the building through. So, the Grand Forks companies engaged included EAPC Architects Engineers as project architect, ICS Inc. as general contractor, Lunseth Plumbing and Heating and Bergstrom Electric for plumbing and electrical and Norby’s Work Perks for the furniture.

Further, all 176 windows and doors came from Marvin Windows and Doors in Warroad, MInn., and Grafton, N.D.

“We’re a cooperative, and one of our principles is that we’re committed to the community,” Fladhammer said.

“That’s not something that’s just on a piece of paper. That’s who we are and what we do.”

IMAGES: MINNKOTA POWER COOPERATIVE

FITNESS ROOM, MINNKOTA POWER COOPERATIVE

COMMON AREA AND BREAK ROOM, MINNKOTA POWER COOPERATIVE

TRAINING AND PRESENTATION ROOM, MINNKOTA POWER COOPERATIVE

OFFICE SPACE, MINNKOTA POWER COOPERATIVE

KITCHEN AREA, MINNKOTA POWER COOPERATIVE

SHOP AND DELIVERY SPACE, MINNKOTA POWER COOPERATIVE

What social media tools has your company’s HR department found to be especially useful? Q.