Business

Rolls-Royce opened a new $24 million logistics operations center in Mankato this week.

It’s built adjacent to an existing power generation manufacturing facility, and the expansion allows Rolls-Royce to double production capacity for its mtu Series 4000 generator sets that are used to provide backup power for large-scale infrastructure, including hospitals, airports, industrial sites and data centers.

This investment increased the local workforce by 20 percent, making Rolls-Royce one of the largest manufacturers in Mankato, and created more than a hundred jobs, said Andy Wilke, executive vice president of Greater Mankato Growth.

“I think that there’s a significant ripple effect amongst all the other partners, their suppliers,” Wilke told MPR News. “Their supplies, there’s logistics [and] there’s other businesses that are going to be able to support Rolls-Royce in their mission to continue to grow their generator business.”

Rolls-Royce made its first investment in Mankato with a $14 million investment in 2020, Wilke said. He added that the city is a major hub for generator production with other companies such as BlueStar Power Systems and NIDEC Kato-Engineering.

This expansion builds on more than $1.5 billion by Rolls-Royce in the U.S over the past decade, with 34 locations in 26 states.

“[Rolls-Royce] continue to see an increase in demand for these emergency generators for mission-critical-type uses,” he said. “Among them would be healthcare, manufacturing and other uses … they’re all significant contributors to the economy.”

The expansion to the already-existent facility was first announced in June 2025, when Rolls-Royce said it expected to increase capacity for backup power systems by more than double by the end of this year.

The company’s backup power systems also support more than 25 percent of U.S. data centers, along with other critical infrastructure. Wilke said there continues to be more demand.

“I think that they have found that there continues to be that need to ensure consistent energy or power backup systems for individuals in different industries,” he added.

Generator sets produced in Mankato use mtu Series 4000 engines built at the Rolls-Royce facility in Aiken, S.C.

“As demand for reliable, independent energy accelerates in the U.S., this investment enables Rolls-Royce to keep pace with the market and provide mission-critical backup power generation at a greater scale than ever before,” said Jörg Stratmann, CEO of Rolls-Royce Power in a news release.

“Mankato plays an essential role in both the future of Rolls-Royce and U.S. manufacturing. …This expansion in Mankato builds on our century-long commitment in America, investing locally to drive national economic growth.”

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As medical behemoth Mayo Clinic continues to lead the way in incorporating artificial intelligence into clinical settings, a new lawsuit alleges that staff at the world-renowned hospital system had been skirting AI compliance rules and masking concerning error rates.

The civil action comes from former Mayo Clinic research director and AI compliance lead Traci Tamiko Eto, who sued her employer this week in federal court, saying she was retaliated against and fired after she blew the whistle on how the hospital’s rush to incorporate AI into their operations put patient care and privacy at risk.

Artur Davis, Eto’s attorney and a partner with the national law firm HKM Employment Attorneys LLC, told MPR News that this is a significant case, especially since it concerns the intimate and confidential patient data hospitals like Mayo Clinic have in their possession.

“If [people] care about the notion that AI has to be handled in a responsible manner, with integrity, and there have to be rules and guidelines, this is a case that should matter to you,” Davis said.

Davis said Mayo Clinic has 21 days to respond to the legal filing.

Mayo Clinic told MPR News Wednesday it is committed to the responsible development and deployment of AI and that privacy, security, transparency and compliance are embedded in its processes.

“Our research and clinical innovation are conducted in accordance with applicable laws and regulations and we remain steadfast in upholding the trust patients place in us and respecting their privacy,” said Andrea Kalmanovitz, Mayo’s communications director. “Mayo Clinic does not comment on pending or active litigation.”

Incorporating AI into patient care has been one of Mayo Clinic’s top priorities in recent years. The renowned medical provider has been developing and using AI to reach more patients and find new ways to better diagnose, treat, predict and prevent disease. In 2019, the health care system launched Mayo Clinic Platform, an initiative to drive health care innovation through the use of AI and other digital products, and just last month Mayo Clinic announced it is partnering with Microsoft to develop an advanced AI model dedicated to health care.

But the lawsuit claims Eto “uncover[ed] a disturbing set of flaws in Mayo’s AI compass” that prioritized speed over accuracy and put patient care and privacy at risk while manipulating data critical in the institution’s medical research.

What does the lawsuit allege?

According to the lawsuit, Eto joined Mayo Clinic in 2023 as Director of Research Operations — entrusted by the company to quarterback its AI compliance efforts and ensure the technology is being used in an ethical way that’s respectful of patient privacy and safety.

Eto first raised issues to her supervisors about the Mayo Clinic Platform in early 2024, concerned that certain de-identification processes of patient data had not been properly reviewed by Mayo’s internal review process.

Eto alleged in the lawsuit her supervisor did not challenge the substance of her concerns but “insisted that having the de-identification process revisited by [the review board] would jeopardize the pace on ongoing research projects, which in turn would compromise Mayo’s competitive advantage.”

Over the course of the next year, Eto flagged multiple instances in which her supervisors would bypass review processes, including those outlined by federal regulatory standards. For example, in July 2024, Eto alleges that her colleague authorized approval of a high-risk investigational medical device to perform cardiac surgery, even though the procedure had not undergone review by the Institutional Review Board.

A few months later, Eto voiced concerns about MAYA, Mayo’s digital assistant tool. The lawsuit alleges that the MAYA team mischaracterized its outcomes, deleted unfavorable results and used an “unsanctioned” software device that compromised data security. Ten separate whistleblower reports raised similar concerns, including allegations that study investigators were trying to disguise a 67 percent error rate.

“There’s a process, there’s a set of rules, there is a set of guidelines, and there are a recognized set of exceptions,” Eto’s attorney Davis said. “What she saw was a willingness to use exceptions that didn’t apply, a willingness to cut corners and a willingness to not follow the rules out of a desire to get ahead competitively.”

According to the lawsuit, Eto began to be excluded from executive level meetings in early 2025 after she filed a report outlining alleged violations with Mayo’s legal department. Eto claims an AI engineering director warned her that her supervisor had issued “marching orders … to get rid of [her] ASAP.”

Eto said she was told in March 2025 she was a “poor cultural fit” and could either resign as research director with her supervisor’s “blessing” or face the prospect of consequences in her personnel file “that would render her unemployable at Mayo and would impede her career outside the institution.”

Eto stayed on at Mayo anyway, and, according to the lawsuit, she was put on a formal performance plan with Mayo HR department. She claims she was demoted and told she could no longer manage her team of employees. She also said she was kicked off of some of the AI projects she’d been working on. Eto claims in the lawsuit she then experienced a serious depressive episode and applied for medical leave.

Roughly halfway through her leave, in September 2024, Eto was notified that her position had been eliminated.

Eto has asked for the case to be brought to trial and is requesting back pay, front pay, lost benefits, coverage of litigation fees and other forms of compensation.

“When an individual decides that they are willing to file a lawsuit against a public goliath on matters that are hot button issues in our country, she is literally risking her career,” Davis said. “She is risking being attacked professionally. She is risking her reputation, and for her to do that tells you something about her level of confidence that she’s right.”

Correction (July 9, 2026): An earlier version of this story misstated when Eto learned her position had been eliminated. The above story is correct.

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Have you thought about what will happen to your home, your savings or your treasured family keepsakes after you die?

If you’re leaving it to your loved ones to just figure out, you might be leaving them costly and stressful problems.

MPR News host Angela Davis talks about why estate planning isn’t just for the wealthy, and what simple steps you can take now to reduce expenses and family conflict when you’re gone.

Guests:

• Anisha Murphy is an attorney and founder of Just Law LLC, an asset protection law firm that provides individual, families and businesses with legal tools and resources. It includes a focus on estate, life and legacy planning. She is also an adjunct faculty member at Mitchell Hamline School of Law and the University of Minnesota Law School.

• Nneka Constantino is vice president and senior financial advisor at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management with more than 20 years experience. She also created and hosts a weekly personal finance show on 89.9 FM KMOJ radio.

Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.    

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The value of commercial spaces, like office buildings, are shrinking in the Twin Cities. That became apparent last week, when the city of Richfield shared that Best Buy’s headquarters building dropped nearly 50 percent in value in its most recent assessment.

But how was that office building’s value decided? And how does it affect your tax bill?

Josh Hoogland, assessor for Hennepin County, and Laura Russ, executive director for the Shenehon Center for Real Estate at the University of St. Thomas, joined MPR News guest host Catharine Richert to talk about commercial spaces and the impact their value has on cities.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.

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The freedom to choose your work hours has been a game changer for many white-collar workers. Now, it has quietly become an option for some blue-collar workers as well.

With U.S. manufacturers struggling to staff up, a handful are opening the doors to people who may not be seeking a traditional career in the industry or even a 40-hour workweek.

It’s a change that manufacturers including Stanley Black & Decker and Georgia-Pacific are embracing. And it has also taken hold in rural northwest Georgia.

Ruth Ransom calls it the best thing she has ever heard.

“I wasn’t interested in working full time,” says the 68-year-old grandmother, who considered herself retired when she learned of the opportunity to pick up shifts at the Roper Corp., a kitchen appliance plant owned by GE Appliances. “I was just wanting to work part time, maybe two days a week somewhere. You know, just to get out of the house.”

Today, Ransom is part of a pool of more than 900 workers who sign up for shifts via an app. Not only do workers make their own schedules, deciding how many four-hour shifts to pick up each week, but they also choose what kind of work they want to do. Assembly line jobs are fast-paced and physically demanding, so Ransom often opts for quality control, which she finds less taxing.

“It’s your choice,” she says. “I love it.”

A COVID-era struggle leads to a “crazy” idea

GE Appliances first embraced flexible work out of necessity. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company found itself inundated with orders and severely short on workers.

“People were buying appliances in record numbers, because they were staying at home and they were cooking,” says Tony Gabbert, the plant’s director of manufacturing operations. “It was a great time, great problem to have when you’re just selling product so fast that you can’t hardly make them quick enough.”

The not-great problem was that workers were staying home, even quitting, because of COVID-19. On some days, the plant was hundreds of workers short. Salaried employees, including Gabbert, had to step in to keep the highest-priority lines moving.

Amid the crunch, Gabbert learned of a staffing firm called MyWorkChoice. Its pitch was intriguing. The firm would recruit and vet a pool of workers who could be trained to do different jobs, building ovens and ranges across the plant. The workers, who would remain employees of MyWorkChoice, would use an app to sign up for open shifts, covering for absences and helping out with increased demand.

Gabbert presented the idea to his boss, Bill Good, GE Appliances’ vice president of manufacturing. Today, the two of them chuckle, recalling his response.

“I did say this is crazy,” says Good, who has worked in manufacturing for almost four decades.

An industry that runs on consistency

The mantra in manufacturing, Good says, is that you need consistency to build a quality product. It’s why, for generations, the proposition to workers was simple.

“We would say: Hey, we have a 40-hour job. We will pay you this amount. This is your benefits. You show up every day, and that is a nonnegotiable,” says Good.

What was initially proposed felt like the antithesis of that: adding workers who could sign up for as little as two hours of work at a time.

“The two-hour increments scared the heck out of me, because I was envisioning people coming and going at a rate that we could not control,” says Good.

So they settled on four-hour shifts. They started out small, in just a couple of areas of the plant, and expanded over time. Today, in any given week, about 450 flexible workers — roughly half the pool — pick up shifts at the plant, with workers putting in an average of 24 hours a week.

Their contributions have been key to GE Appliances’ $180 million expansion of the Georgia plant, completed last year, which added 600 new jobs.

Prizing flexibility over money and benefits

Good’s hope is that some of the workers who make their way to manufacturing through MyWorkChoice will discover that they want a career in the industry after all.

But many may not.

“I think with the current workforce, the way that it has changed, it’s not the way that it was 20 years ago, where you come, you stay at a job and you work those hours,” says Darcy Duvall, the plant’s director of human resources operations.

She has found that people are comfortable with app-based work. Workers get rated on their reliability. Those with the highest ratings get the first pick of shifts.

“This is like the Uber of manufacturing,” Duvall says.

She has also come to see that many workers prize flexibility despite the significant trade-offs — like lower pay and almost no benefits. MyWorkChoice employees can opt into their own group healthcare plan, but few do.

Kwame Crockett is among a sizable share of flexible workers who are putting in full-time hours at the plant. When he first started with MyWorkChoice, he saw it as a way to supplement his other job, managing and remodeling properties in a mobile home park. He’d sign up for shifts at the plant a few days a week.

“At the time, it worked out perfectly,” he says.

More recently, he has been working five days a week. Under the agreement between GE Appliances and MyWorkChoice, Crockett could become a full-time employee of the plant and gain access to GE Appliances’ full benefits package, which includes paid time off, paid holidays, on-site healthcare and even a 401(k) match.

But Crockett isn’t interested — for now, anyway.

“I’ve thought about it,” he says. “But I never know when my other remodeling or anything might kick up. So I might need a vacation or a little time off, you know?”

Keeping experienced workers on the job

The flexible work option has also helped GE Appliances keep longtime employees with decades of experience on the job.

Doris Hamby worked at the plant full time for 35 years. After her husband died, she might have retired. Instead, she went part time. These days, at 62, she works three to four days a week.

“That way I can spend time with the grandkids, and my momma’s real sick so I’m having to take care of her too,” she says.

After her move to part time, her boss got her back on the same line, so she’s doing the same work, although for a couple of dollars less per hour. Being free to set her own schedule makes it worth it, she says.

“I got people asking me, ‘When you going to retire? When you going to quit?'” Hamby says.

Last year, she told her co-workers maybe by the end of the year. Now, she’s saying maybe by the end of this year.

“I’ll probably be here a while,” she says.

Copyright 2026, NPR

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The Elk River City Council voted Monday night to reject changes to a city ordinance that would have allowed a new data center.

Elk River Capital and Swervo Development Corp. are proposing to convert an existing 60,000-square-foot industrial building to a data center.

The project would be smaller than hyperscale data centers proposed in other Minnesota communities and promises benefits including jobs and property tax revenue. But many Elk River residents have expressed strong opposition.

Elk River has two existing data centers that don’t conform to the city’s current zoning rules, which don’t allow data centers in any zoning district.

The City Council considered changing its ordinance to allow data centers in industrial zones, with restrictions. Those included limits on size and energy use, and a requirement to use a closed-loop cooling system to reduce water use.

But the council voted against the change after hearing from numerous residents. They voiced concerns about noise, energy use, pollution from backup diesel generators and health effects on neighboring homes and schools.

“This is not an anti-technology conversation. What this is is, ‘We don’t know what we don’t know,’” said resident David McClellan. “There are other communities that are investigating this for us. There’s a lot to learn, but there’s no reason for us to rush into this.”

The council still needs to vote on whether to approve a conditional-use permit for the data center. Without the ordinance amendment, the project isn’t allowed. The council is expected to deny the permit at its Aug. 3 meeting.

Some council members said they’re not against all data centers but want to look at each proposal on a case-by-case basis. Some said Elk River Capital’s location near housing and schools doesn’t fit with the city’s future plans.

“Good community planning sometimes means saying yes,” council member Jennifer Wagner said. “It also means sometimes saying no, or not yet, or we just don’t have it right yet.”

Instead, the council asked city staff to draft a one-year moratorium on new data centers for consideration at an upcoming meeting.

Several other Minnesota cities have already adopted temporary bans on data center construction, including Minneapolis, Rosemount, Inver Grove Heights and Carver.

A data center developer is suing the city of Eagan after leaders adopted a one-year moratorium on new or expanded data centers in February.

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