Business and Economic News

Best Buy ups sales outlook heading into holiday shopping season
Best Buy is raising its profit and sales expectations ahead of the holiday shopping season after a strong third quarter. Comparable-store sales at the nation’s largest consumer electronics chain rose 2.7 percent, fueled by computing, gaming and mobile phones. 
Rochester hopes to grow economy beyond Mayo in the next decade
Rochester’s Destination Medical Center is the state’s largest economic development project in history. At 10 years old, it has accomplished some of its goals. In the next decade, local leaders said diversifying Rochester’s economy will be a focus.
On the Iron Range, ore trucks as large as two-story houses set to transform the mining industry
Mesabi Metallics, an iron ore mine under construction in Nashwauk, has purchased the largest trucks ever used in Minnesota’s iron mines. The trucks haul 400 tons of rock in a single load and are designed to be operated autonomously. 
‘Oat Mafia’ in search of a market for oats in the upper Midwest market
Some corn and soybean farmers in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa have started planting oats for environmental reasons, but also in an effort to diversify what’s grown in the Midwest. One area farmer has broken ground on a new oat mill in Albert Lea, Minn., for a local market.