MN State Legislators Ponder Offshore Map Work

Aero-Metric Inc. laid off 10 employees in Maple Grove, MN. That means that aerial maps of nine counties in the state are being made by contractors in India.

State legislators are currently working a bill to spend an additional $5 million of tax money to map at least 41 other counties over the next three years. The outsourcing has caused concern. Rep. Jean Wagenius, DFL-Minneapolis, who is chairwoman of an environmental finance oversight committee says Minnesota money should stay in Minnesota. However, when Rep. Rick Hansen,  looked into “a no-outsourcing clause” addition to his bill, House legal counsel told him it would be unconstitutional.

Aero-Metric beat out Woolpert of Dayton, Ohio, which had a lower overall bid after various optional tasks were added to the project. Woolpert would have done the work in the U.S. and raises concerns about sending detailed mapping work outside the country to “foreign countries that do not have the best interests of the United States at heart,” per Bob Brinkman, a senior vice president.

- Minneapolis St. Paul Star Tribune