Minneapolis firm Ovative/group expanding downtown

A Minneapolis digital marketing and analytics firm is planning a multi-million dollar expansion that could create an estimated 100 new jobs within the next few years.

Ovative/group focuses on measuring the impact of digital marketing on both online and offline purchases, said Greg Engen, senior vice president of business development.

"There's a lot of demand for companies to really figure out the impact that digital is having on the enterprise," Engen said. "As more dollars continue to flow from traditional channels into more addressable and digital channels, the need for our services increases."

The company currently has about 80 employees and plans to add about 100 employees over the next three years, Engen said.

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In order to have space to expand, Ovative/group is moving to a new property on the same block of their North Loop neighborhood by mid-2018. Engen said the cost of the expansion is expected to be about $2.1 million.

Part of that will likely be funded by a $605,000 grant from the state's Job Creation Fund through the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). The company will only receive the funds after it meets job and other investment goals.

"Ovative/group is growing at a remarkable pace, thanks to high demand for their services that enable businesses to measure and optimize the effectiveness of their digital marketing efforts," DEED Commissioner Shawntera Hardy said in a statement.

The state's job creation fund has given out more than $33 million dollars for 75 business expansion projects since it was launched in 2014. State officials say it's led to more than 4,600 new full-time jobs and $900 million in company expansions.