Alliant Techsystems, Cargill top Minnesota recipients of federal grant dollars

FedSpending.org has put together a list of the 100 largest recipients of federal tax dollars during the first quarter of 2008. Topping the list — taking in roughly $3 billion, or more than five percent of all federal grant dollars — is aviation giant Boeing Co. Next on the list, not surprisingly, are defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, raking in just over $4 billion combined in the first three months of the year.

Honeywell, which has roots in Minneapolis, but is now based in Morristown, N.J., clocks in at 23rd on the list, collecting $422 million in grant dollars during the first quarter of the year. The largest Minnesota-based company to crack the top 100 is Alliant Techsystems (ATK). The Eden Prairie-based weapons and ammunition manufacturer, which spun off of Honeywell in 1990, was disbursed $315 million in federal contracts through March. Agribusiness giant Cargill hits the list in 48th place. The largest privately held business in the country took in $160 million during the first quarter of 2008.