LAKEVILLE, Minn. – A planned mattress manufacturing plant has officially been canceled, ending two years of hope that the plant would bring jobs to Lakeville, Minnesota.
The Atlanta-based company Serta Simmons Bedding announced its intention to build the factory in 2015, but they confirmed to the Star Tribune on Monday they no longer have any plans to build the factory.
Minnesota had awarded the company two grants totalling $2.1 million, both of which were conditionally based on a timeline of the factory’s construction.
Serta Simmons was to have started construction on the proposed 240,000 square foot factory within six months, something it failed to do. This led to the cancellation of a $1.1 million Job Creation Fund grant/rebate it had been awarded by the state.
“There are timing requirements tied to both of those grant awards. And when the company delayed the project and didn’t make any progress to meet the timing requirements set out, we rescinded both of the awards in March 2016,” Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development Spokesman Shane Delaney told the Star Tribune. “The company is always welcome to reapply, but they can’t revive these specific grants.”
March 2016 also saw Minnesota cancel a $1 million award to Serta Simmons from the Minnesota Investment Fund. That was canceled after Serta Simmons officials told the state that they believed the project would not be making progress in the immediate future, reports the Star Tribune.
Dozens of construction jobs would have been created as it was being built, reports the Star Tribune, in addition to the 200 permanent positions in the factory once it was opened.
In February 2017, Serta Simmons announced it planned to go forward with $100 million in investments in order to build four factories. The sites included in those plans were Seattle, Houston, Moreno Valley, California, and Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
