Economy

Maple Grove is home to a regional Boston Scientific research, development and manufacturing facility, employing over 3,000 people. Other major employers include the Independent School District 279 and the City of Maple Grove.

The City is home to a 2,000-acre (8.1 km²) gravel mining area (GMA) owned by C.S. McCrossan, Tiller Corporation and Aggregate Industries. Active since the 1920s, the GMA is slowly being developed into a residential and commercial downtown. The first phase included Main Street, a collection of one- and two-story buildings with storefronts built in new urbanist (or neotraditional) style. The second phase was generally considered to be the Shoppes of Arbor Lakes and the third phase was the Fountains at Arbor Lakes.

Minnesota's first lifestyle center, The Shoppes at Arbor Lakes, is designed in the spirit of a mid-century American village and includes stores such as Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, GoodThings, National Camera Exchange, Hot Mama, Teavana, Anthropologie, California Pizza Kitchen, P.F. Chang's, Borders Books & Music and numerous other upscale stores. The lifestyle center was built in 2003 and has been replicated in Woodbury, Minnesota (Woodbury Lakes). Maple Grove's Shoppes at Arbor Lakes is 412,000 square feet (38,300 m²) in size and is home to more than 65 stores and restaurants.

The most recent Arbor Lakes development is a hybrid power center development called The Fountains at Arbor Lakes. At 850,000 square feet, this retail complex includes stores such as Caribou Coffee, Subway, DSW, Lowe's, REI and a Holiday Inn & Suites with a water park.

Maple Grove's most recent development, The Grove, is located at the intersection of I-94 and Maple Grove Parkway. This district is home to the new North Memorial/Fairview hospital complex, SuperTarget, Home Depot, Slumberland and other stores. The central portion of the project is designed to be pedestrian-friendly and encourage a small-town atmosphere within the larger scale of the development.

Arbor Lakes is home to more retail than virtually any city in the state, second only to the Mall of America in Bloomington. Maple Grove itself is likely to have nearly 6 million square feet (600,000 m²) of commercial development at build out, which may soon push the city into the number one spot for retail square-footage.

Education

Maple Grove's public schools are part of the Osseo Area School District 279 (see article Education in Maple Grove and Osseo), which also serves the following areas: Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Plymouth, Corcoran, Dayton and Hassan. The superintendent is Susan K. Hintz. The public education system in Maple Grove is rated highly, with Maple Grove Junior High School and Maple Grove Senior High School ranking consistently at the top of state-wide testing.^{[citation needed]} A portion of Maple Grove is also served by the Wayzata School District. Other schools in Maple Grove include Heritage Christian Academy and Cedarcrest Academy,both private schools of academic excellence.

In October 2006, the district held its first "Parade of Schools." The event was designed to showcase building improvements made possible by the $140 million bond referendum passed by voters in 2000.