New Resturants.....

Owatonna did not have many choices to eat out or they just had the typical restaurants (McDonald's, burger king, Taco Bell...etc). Now Owatonna has definetly expanded in resturants. During the periods of 2007-2009 we have increased in resturants. Now we have the first somali resturant in Owatonna called Jubba Resturant.. Papa Murphy's, Dun Bro's, East Wind Buffet, Pizza Ranch...and the list goes on..!

When I came to Owatonna in 1997, we did not have much shopping areas. Except walmart and Target. After thirteen years Owatonna has got two other shopping stores. We have Kohl's and Famous Footwear. I mean its not a major change, but at least we have more options. Especially with Kohl's. I work at Kohl's and it definitely has a wide variety of clothes, shoes, and accessories. We also have two strip malls near Walmart. One of the strip malls contains Radio Shack, Game Stop, MGM, 24 Fitness and across from this strip mall is the second strip mall that contains Famous Footwear, Dollar Tree, Office Max. These strip malls makes Owatonna look a little more urban and beautiful. Wow in 1997 Owatonna was empty, and now I see how Owatonna has expanded. Wow its AMAZING!!

Owatonna Clinic/Hospital

In the past years we definitely had a major change in our Clinic and Hospital. Our Clinic in Owatonna (Allina Hospital and Clinic) was first opened on January 1901 and there were only about 100 patients because, since Owatonna was a small town and there weren't not that much people. As years want by The Owatonna Allina Hospital and Clinic expanded. More rooms and equipments were needed. So in 1931 operational rooms were built and the cost came to $101,000. In 1959 the hospital added a two-story addition and it was done by 1961. The cost of that project was $1.3 million. WTF!! that is a lot of money! The city of Owatonna expanded, so they needed another Clinic/Hospital. This idea came about in 1999. But the project was approved October 2005 and it came into play. The bill to construct the new Hospital was $46 million. Again WTF!!! That seems a little too much just for a building in a small town, just my opinion!! The new building was being constructed at 2250 NW 26th Street Owatonna, Minnesota. To help design this new hospital the hospital made a survey for the public to get feedback. After four years of construction and all the hard work the hospital was finally opened this year of October. I personally want to go visit the new hospital myself. It was so beautifully built. I really think the city did a great choice of choosing the location and how the building will look. Its very big and a lot of space. You do not have to worry about getting sick or catching something from the hospital because, it seems very clean and a healthy place to be. I also love the design of the place, the carpets and the decorations are very warm and welcoming. Overall the place looks like a mall to me..lol! My information was provided from http://www.owatonnahospital.com/ahs/owatonna.nsf/page/construction and This website shows you all the features of the hospital -http://www.owatonnahospital.com/ahs/owatonna.nsf/page/092858factsheet.pdf/$FILE/092858factsheet.pdf

Major Corporations.....

Jostens and Federated Owatonna's biggest employers. I thought Viracon was? Dave Strand, Owatonna Development Director said that even though we are in a recession some businesses in Owatonna are growing and expanding. Dan sayner with SPX Corporation (10 years of woking with SPX) was asked since there is cutbacks on manufatucring will SPX close in Owatonna close in the future? He said "There are never any guarantees given how rapidly our market can change, but our Owatonna operations are SPX’s only remaining manufacturing sites for automotive-related products in North America. This is too large of a market to abandon or underserve our customers. As long as we remain flexible and competitive, we have an investment here in Owatonna that makes good business sense"........Wow! I did not realize Owatonna was doing well with ther busniesses. All my information was provided by http://www.owatonnadevelopment.com/business/documents/44020_GrowingOwatonna_prf.pdf

Rising Population......

http://ci.owatonna.mn.us/ says in 1970s we were the smallest city in Owatonna. The 1990's that the population in Owatonna grew by 3,000 people and another 1,000 by 2000 and 2004. We were the fastest growing city in southern Minnesota and only Rochester's growth rate was higher then Owatonna's. The estimated population of Owatonna now is 32,000. That is some crazy growth in people because just thirty nine years ago the population was just 15,000. Other information about Owatonna is from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owatonna,_Minnesota