Dec. 29--Ideal Aerosmith recently ran radio ads seeking four new technical-assembly workers for its East Grand Forks, Minn., plant. The company got more than it bargained for.

Thirty-six people showed up at this month's job fair.

"We were surprised. We would have been happy with 15," said Barbara Schultz, a senior vice president.

The company's location usually makes it tough to get candidates, she said. No more.

Resumes have flooded into Ideal Aerosmith since word spread that the company is growing despite the economy. It already has inched up by five workers this year, to 110. And this month, it hired an engineer, a technical buyer and four assembly workers.

Schultz, asked if the recession might force cutbacks, said no way. "It's hard to say 'cut back' when we are trying to grow right now," she said. "Our capacity is pretty much tapped. While [the economy] is in the back of our minds, we are not dwelling on it."

Ideal Aerosmith, which makes avionics testing equipment for the armed forces and for commercial contractors, represents the flip side of this economy: small, fast-growing companies that are avoiding some of the woes that have beset larger firms.

While 3M, Andersen Corp., Hutchinson Technology, Best Buy, Tenant, Graco, Pentair and other big-name Minnesota-based companies shed 7,000 workers since September, dozens of small Minnesota manufacturers are growing and hiring.

Those medical and high-precision parts makers, rent-to-own auto dealers and defense firms are investing in new equipment and expanding as if the boom times still were here, note economists and economic-development bureaucrats

Stark contrast

The growth lies in stark contrast to what the 10,000 member National Association of Manufacturers is seeing: thousands of layoffs and billions of dollars in cost reductions reported in recent weeks. Nationally, manufacturers whacked 600,000 jobs this year, including 85,000 last month.

Ideal Aerosmith and companies like it are exceptions. Companies thriving in the midst of a global recession tend to be innovative and offer customized, high-tech and engineering services in niche industries.

"These people are either investing, buying or growing in some way," said Bob Kill, CEO of Enterprise Minnesota, the quasi-government business assistance group that helps small manufacturers pare waste and raise productivity.

"Nimble small companies can take advantage of [this economy] if they have invested previously in their own plants and equipment," Kill said.