Digi-Key Electronics is a distributor of electronic components for more than 650 industry-leading suppliers. At any given time, more than 1,300,000 products are in stock and ready to be shipped from their Thief River Falls headquarters, shipping an average of 16,000 orders per day. Dr. Ronald A. Stordahl began selling electronic components in 1972, with the first ten years emphasized on the electronic hobbyist. In 1982 they began directing catalog mailings to the commercial market.
Digi-Key Electronics has become one of the fastest growing electronic component distributors in the world. Today, they are the 5th largest electronic component distributor in North America and the 7th largest worldwide. They currently employ 3,187 people in Minnesota. Digi-Key Electronics has grown to a point where they need to expand their facilities to keep up with growth and have chosen to expand in Thief River Falls, MN. They are proposing to construct a 2,200,000 square foot (S.F.) Product Distribution Center Expansion (PDCE) that will conservatively add 1,000 new jobs in Thief River Falls over the next ten years. This facility, along the highly sophisticated technology and equipment will represent an investment in Thief River Falls of over $300,000,000.
Digi-Key will add 1,000 new jobs in the community over the next ten years.
The recent commitment by Digi-Key to expand in Thief River Falls with a 2,200,000 S.F. product distribution center, that adds 1,000 new jobs in our community over the next ten years, will increase the need for workforce housing and generate additional growth and economic development. This, along with the acquisition of Arctic Cat by Textron Specialized Vehicles, Inc., and their transfer of manufacturing from Augusta, Georgia to Thief River Falls will only increase this demand. Hundreds of people commute to Thief River Falls from communities in excess of a 50 mile radius each day to work at these and other employers, making the economy of many cities and counties dependent on the success of the major employers in Thief River Falls. That makes this community truly of regional significance.
