It was less than a year ago that Arctic Cat, the well known ATV and Snowmobile manufacturer, decided to move their Plymouth office to the trendy North Loop Minneapolis neighborhood.
Last week, the company’s new owners, Textron Inc., announced they will be closing their Minneapolis office at 500 N. 3rd St by end of 2017. In January, Textron Inc. had announced they were purchasing Arctic Cat in a $247 million deal.
They will now be moving most of the 60 employees to their St Cloud campus, where they manufacture engines and have office space.
The 60 affected employees will reportedly be offered positions in St Cloud and for those unwilling to make the move, a relocation package will be offered if living outside a 50 mile radius.
The company says they’d like to have their teams in the same area to work together in the same space.
Arctic Cat had signed a 13 year lease for the 55,000 square foot office space early last year. Profits had been declining over the past few years, and moving to the North Loop neighborhood was seen as a revitalization for the company in leader’s eyes.
Arctic Cat has been expanding in St Cloud the past few years so the move is not too surprising. The company is making a number of other moves including moving production of its off-road vehicle to Thief River Falls.
