FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Press Release Chip Laingen
Minnesota Wire & Cable Co. Phone: 651-642-1800
St. Paul, Minnesota

Hiring Reflects Minnesota Wire & Cable Co.’s Aggressive Growth Strategy
St. Paul, MN, 06/03/05 -

Minnesota Wire & Cable Co. has experienced significant growth in recent months, adding 30 new employees just since January of this year, an increase of 19%. 21 of those new employees were direct labor added at the company’s plant in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, the principal production and high-volume facility. New hires at the St. Paul headquarters and development facility include electrical and mechanical engineers, sales and marketing professionals, technicians and operators.

Minnesota Wire & Cable Co.’s growth reflects a surge in the firm’s core business for medical products, including new and existing accounts with companies like Medtronic, 3M and Guidant. Also represented are sales to companies that produce products for first responders and the military, including the Pittsburgh-based Mine Safety Appliances (MSA).

Equally important to Minnesota Wire & Cable Co.’s recent growth has been investment in subcontracting opportunities and research and development grants for the military market. The company’s strategy has been to explore ways to directly contribute to the needs for defense and homeland security while using those developmental projects to complement the core business, now and in the future. In under two years, Minnesota Wire & Cable Co. has been awarded 3 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants, and two Phase II SBIRs, representing over $1.5 million in R&D funding from the Department of Defense. Work with local prime defense contractors, including United Defense, Alliant Techsystems and Lockheed Martin has also led to more than two dozen military contracts since 2003.

Minnesota Wire & Cable Co. has continued to invest in both direct and indirect labor, as well as in capital equipment in order to bolster its capabilities, including: full vertical integration of the manufacturing process; a record of success in high-end, complex wire, cable and connector products; and a robust test and measurement lab that exemplifies the company’s product development credo of "test early, test often."

Overall, the company’s business strategy has achieved steady growth over the past two years which has led to important milestones, including a successful audit by the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) this year. In order to share the lessons learned along the way, Minnesota Wire & Cable Co. also began the Defense Alliance of Minnesota, a first of its kind network for companies to make connections and share lessons regarding defense and homeland security contracting. The Alliance has garnered considerable political and industry support in less than a year of operation, and is involved in lobbying efforts to assure continuance of the federal SBIR program which benefits many Minnesota firms and has potential to benefit many more (more about the Defense Alliance of Minnesota is available on the Website: www.defensealliance.com.)

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