By Tim Nelson

Minnesota Public Radio News

When the new $1 billion Minnesota Vikings stadium under construction in downtown Minneapolis is completed before the 2016 season, it will include the work of Minnesotans to whom state officials want to give more opportunities.

State lawmakers wrote requirements for minorities and women on the stadium project into the stadium law, setting workforce goals of 32 percent for minorities and 6 percent for women.

The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority took those goals a step further by including former members of the armed services — a category that wasn’t set in law.

“Right now, we have five veteran owned businesses that have contracts on the project,” said Michele Kelm-Helgen, chair of the authority. “That represents about $8.5 million worth of work on the project.”

Among the contractors who have served in the armed forces is Mike Klein, who served in Korea while in the Air Force from 1973 to 1976.

“I worked in a gun shop,” he said. “That’s actually where I got my electronic training. So it was everything that flies on an aircraft. The weapons systems. Worked on the big 20 millimeter Gatling guns.”

Of course, the new stadium doesn’t include any airborne cannons. But Klein has plenty of experience in electronics, which he is putting to good use. His Blaine-based company is designing the fire alarms and life safety systems it will start installing in the new stadium next year.

Kelm-Helgen anticipates about 1 percent of the stadium’s construction budget will go to veteran-owned subcontractors. About 5 percent of the workers for the project have been veterans, she said.