Blue Earth’s largest icon to business and industry weighs 8,000 lbs., is 60 feet tall, and wears a size 78 shoe. The Jolly Green Giant statue was established as a tribute to the importance of agriculture and industry to Faribault County. Erected in 1979, the statue is a symbol of the long-standing association of the City of Blue Earth with Green Giant.

Location

Blue Earth is a growing community strategically located at the intersections of Interstate 90 and Highway 169 in south-central Minnesota.

• 125 miles from the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport

• 90 miles from Rochester, Minnesota

• 190 miles from Des Moines, Iowa

• 130 miles from Sioux Falls, South Dakota

• 40 miles from Interstate 35 at Albert Lea, Minnesota

Workforce

The rural work ethic is a heritage of the people in Faribault County who maintain excellent reputations as high quality, productive, and reliable workers.

Major employers include:

• Darling Ingredients

• Blue Earth Area Schools

• Kerry Ingredients

• United Hospital District Hospital & Clinic

• Seneca Foods

• St. Luke’s Lutheran Home

• TAFCO Equipment Company

• Bevcomm

Golden Spike Business Park

A progressive business park is located north of the city at the intersection of Interstate 90 and State Highway 169.  It is zoned for both heavy and light industry.  Services to the park include:  city water and sanitary sewer, municipal electric power, natural gas, and asphalt roads throughout the park.

Air Transportation

The Blue Earth Municipal Airport is an all-weather airport offering a 3,500-foot lighted, hard surface runway with instrument approach and a fixed base operator. Fuel, maintenance, Unicom and aerial application services are available, along with hangar space rental. A courtesy car is provided for pilots and passengers flying into the airport.

Flights from Fairmont and Mankato airports, connecting to Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport, are also available.

Utilities

The community is served by a municipally-owned electric and water utility. Blue Earth Light and Water recently was awarded for our reliability the “Diamond RP3,” which is the top award from the American Public Power Association. The utility also has very competitive cost of service-based rates for electric and water services. For more information, please visit their website: http://www.BELW.org

Gas service is available from either Blue Earth Light & Water or Centerpoint Energy.

Bevcomm provides many telephone services including local telephone services, cellular phone service, internet access, voicemail, calling features, local area network and alarm systems as well as the latest in digital switching and fiber optics.