• MAPLETON, N.D. (AP) -- A bedroom community of more than 700 people next to North Dakota's largest city expects its recent growth spurt to turn into a boom, with help from a South Dakota-based company.
• Officials in Mapleton, which is a few miles west of Fargo on Interstate 84, say a pair of building projects involving a new manufacturing plant and an expanding business should attract new residents.
• Groundbreaking was held Saturday for the 100,000-square-foot Horsch Anderson LLC manufacturing plant. The plant, which will make agricultural equipment, is the collaboration of Aberdeen, S.D.-based Anderson Industries and two other companies.
• Mapleton Mayor Eric Hillman told the Forum newspaper (http://bit.ly/NnU9BH) the city is spending about $3.2 million for a new industrial plant to accommodate the $6.5 million plant. It will be covered by special assessments.
• "It's a big move for our town to take on something this size, but we need to be proactive rather than reactive," Hillman said. "We need to keep building our town."
• The Horsch Anderson plant is expected to employ 80 people within the first two years and as many as 300 within five years, said Kory Anderson, president of Horsch Anderson, which has an assembly plant in Andover, S.D.
• Anderson Industries already has a manufacturing facility in Mapleton.
• "Also, a lot of our subcontractors that we use are from this area," Anderson said. "Plus, the area around Fargo is a very strong area when it comes to the agriculture industry."
• The Horsch Anderson plant, which is scheduled to be completed early next year, will serve as the North American headquarters for the triumvirate of Anderson Industries; Horsch Maschinen, of Schwandorf, Germany; and Harper Industries, of Harper, Kan.
• The other project involves Great Plains Transport, which has been leasing space in Mapleton and plans a new 25,000-square-foot headquarters to open in 2013. The company, which employs about 80 people, plans to add about 50 new jobs, said Bob Holland, Great Plains Transport president.
• "It will give us a lot better chance to grow. Right now, we're just strapped for space," he said.