Office profile
General Mills Headquarters & offices · Golden Valley, Minnesota
General Mills · Golden Valley, Minnesota
A 1958 campus with its own “Main Street” — coffee bar, salon, gym, credit union and company store — renovated across 370,000 sq ft in 2025.
The campus, the leave policies and 160 years of addresses, from a flour mill at St. Anthony Falls to Golden Valley — then the pay. Every number from General Mills' own filings, newsroom and careers site, and from its architect and builder.
- 500,000 GSFWorld Headquarters campus (HGA)
- 18–20 weeksfully paid leave for birth mothers (U.S.)
- 7employee networks, running for 30 years
- $63,212median employee pay, FY2026
Sources: HGA and McGough project pages · General Mills press release, Aug 29, 2018 · careers.generalmills.com · Proxy statement 2026
Companies / United States / Packaged foods / General Mills
THE WORLD HEADQUARTERS · GOLDEN VALLEY · SINCE 1958
A 1958 main building, re-read with a lighter touch
HGA, General Mills' architect for more than 25 years, took its cues from the original 1958 main building and reinterpreted it with lighter materials in every expansion. Walking paths, landscape and parking are planned as one tranquil campus. Its “Main Street” amenities building, the Champions Center, has a work lounge, a Caribou Coffee café, an Aveda salon, a fitness center, a credit union and the company store; a 370,000 sq ft workplace renovation was completed in 2025.
- 500,000 GSF (≈ 46,452 m²)
- Design: HGA
- Builder: McGough
- LEED EB Certified
- 370,000 sq ft renovated (2025)
- All-gender restrooms and a lactation room
Main Street: the Champions Center (2022)
HGA redesigned the Champions Center's “Main Street” with a work lounge, a refreshed Caribou Coffee café, a grab-and-go café and a larger company store.
Workplaces after the 2025 renovation
A 370,000 sq ft multi-phase interior renovation by HGA and McGough, completed in 2025, renewed workspaces, meeting rooms and central community spaces.
The 1958 campus and its expansions
HGA took its cues from the original 1958 main building, planning walking paths, landscape and parking as one tranquil 500,000 GSF campus.
Facts: HGA project pages “General Mills World Headquarters” and “General Mills | Champions Center Main Street Renovation” · McGough project pages “General Mills WHQ – Modern Workplace Renovation” and “Main Street Renovation”.
The campus
| Building | Address |
|---|---|
| World Headquarters | Number One General Mills Boulevard, Minneapolis (Golden Valley), Minnesota 55426 |
Source: Form 10-K FY2026 cover page (address of principal executive offices) · HGA project page (location: Golden Valley, MN) · See them on the map ↓
Source: HGA project pages · McGough project pages · General Mills story “How Betty Crocker got its start” (1958). Owned, per Form 10-K FY2026, Item 2.
Office tour videos
Benefits (United States)
Fully paid time off for new birth mothers, effective January 1, 2019.
Paid leave for fathers, partners and adoptive parents.
Paid leave to care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition.
Time off after the death of an immediate family member.
Then 65% of pay for up to 26 weeks.
General Mills matches a percentage of contributions to its Savings Plan, which includes a company stock fund and an ESOP; total defined-contribution expense in FY2026.
Sabbaticals, paid military leave, vacation and holidays are part of the existing programs.
Fitness center, Aveda salon, Caribou Coffee café, credit union and company store in the Champions Center.
Source: General Mills press release “Expanded U.S. Benefits Plan”, Aug 29, 2018 (applies to salaried and non-union production employees) · Form 10-K FY2026, Note on retirement plans · HGA Champions Center project page. Benefits vary by role and location (careers.generalmills.com).
Why people stay: what General Mills itself says
Learning at every career stage, from onboarding to AI fluency and leadership.
Black Champions, Betty's Family (LGBTQ+), Women's Leadership, Asian Leader, Familia, Veterans and Disability — running for 30 years.
Challenging assignments, job rotations, coaching and mentoring.
Regular engagement surveys; the board reviews the feedback and management's plans.
Support for employees to volunteer time and skills in their local communities.
Celebration, connection and growth inside functions, segments and plants.
Source: careers.generalmills.com (home and Life at General Mills) · Form 10-K FY2026, Human Capital Management · Proxy statement 2026 · generalmills.com story on employee networks (Nov 7, 2022)
Who works here
employees in the U.S.
employees outside the U.S.
people at the James Ford Bell Technical Center
production facilities (27 in the U.S.)
Source: Form 10-K FY2026 (employees, facilities) · General Mills press release, Aug 26, 2025 (JFB)
Pay at General Mills
Calculated like the Summary Compensation Table. The CEO earned 222 times this amount ($14,018,052).
Source: Proxy statement, Aug 13, 2026 (CEO Pay Ratio)
Source: General Mills job postings 10130330, 10127831, 10130451, 10128870, 10128869 (careers site, Aug–Oct 2026). Base salary only; an annual incentive may be on top.
U.S. companies don't have to report pay by age, and General Mills doesn't. The posted salary ranges above are the closest official numbers.
Office history: from a flour mill at St. Anthony Falls to Golden Valley
- 1866 A flour mill on the Mississippi
Cadwallader C. Washburn built a mill on the west bank of the Mississippi in Minneapolis, founding the Washburn-Crosby Company. St. Anthony Falls supplied the water power; it was the largest flour mill west of Buffalo, New York.
Source: generalmills.com, Our history
Washburn-Crosby mills, Minneapolis milling district · Unknown author / Public domain · Wikimedia Commons - 1878 The Washburn “A” mill explodes
On May 2, 1878, flour dust ignited at the Washburn “A” mill, then the largest mill in the U.S. The blast killed 18 workers. Washburn set up a fund for the families and shared the new dust-collector technology with competitors.
Source: generalmills.com, “The explosion that changed milling” (2012)
Washburn “A” mill, May 2, 1878 · Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washingt / Public domain · Wikimedia Commons - 1880 A bigger “A” mill on the same foundations
By mid-1880 the rebuilt mill was running with steel rollers and middlings purifiers. It ground wheat until General Mills closed it in 1965; after a 1991 fire, its ruins reopened in 2003 as the Mill City Museum.
Source: generalmills.com, “The explosion that changed milling” (2012)
Washburn “A” mill complex, 2014 · McGhiever / CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons - 1928 General Mills is formed in Minneapolis
Washburn-Crosby merged with other regional milling companies to form General Mills, created by James Ford Bell, who became its president and chairman.
Source: generalmills.com, Our history · “60 years of food research and innovation at JFB” (2021)
No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it. - 1946 The downtown Minneapolis office
The Betty Crocker Test Kitchens were set up at the General Mills office in downtown Minneapolis, testing recipes with the same equipment as home cooks.
Source: generalmills.com, “How Betty Crocker got its start” (2024)
No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it. - 1958 A new headquarters in Golden Valley
The “Main General Office” relocated from downtown Minneapolis to Golden Valley, and the test kitchens moved with it. HGA calls this original 1958 main building the starting point for every later expansion.
Source: generalmills.com stories on Betty Crocker (2024) and JFB (2021) · HGA project page
No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it. - 1960 Research labs a mile up the road
On a 112-acre former farm about a mile north of the new headquarters, 75 scientists and staff moved into the Central Research Laboratories, designed by Voorhees, Walker, Smith, Smith & Haines. Renamed the James Ford Bell Technical Center, it now holds about 1,000 employees; a $54 million pilot-plant wing is due in fall 2027.
Source: generalmills.com, “60 years of food research and innovation at JFB” (2021) · press release, Aug 26, 2025
No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it. - 2022 Main Street, renovated for the return to campus
After the pandemic, HGA redesigned the Champions Center: a work lounge, a refreshed Caribou Coffee café, Aveda salon, fitness center, credit union, a grab-and-go café and a larger company store, plus all-gender restrooms and touchless doors.
Source: HGA project page · McGough project page (27,000 sq ft, completed 2022)
No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it. - 2025 370,000 sq ft of workplaces renewed
A multi-phase interior renovation of the headquarters buildings: executive and employee workspaces, updated meeting rooms with modern AV, and central community spaces. Architect: HGA; builder: McGough.
Source: McGough project page “General Mills WHQ – Modern Workplace Renovation”
No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it.
Map: how the headquarters moved
From the mill district on the Mississippi riverfront to a campus in Golden Valley, west of the city. The downtown office of 1946–58 is not on the map: General Mills' own pages don't give its address.
- 1 · 1866Washburn mills at St. Anthony Falls, Minneapolis — Washburn's flour mill on the west bank; the rebuilt “A” mill is now the Mill City Museum
- 2 · 1958General Mills World Headquarters, Golden Valley — Number One General Mills Boulevard — headquarters today
Places: generalmills.com history pages · Form 10-K FY2026 cover (HQ address) · Locations: OpenStreetMap
What General Mills does
General Mills began as a flour mill on the Mississippi in 1866. Today it sells more than 100 brands in 100 countries — Cheerios, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Nature Valley, Old El Paso, Häagen-Dazs and Blue Buffalo pet food — and owns 50% of two joint ventures: Cereal Partners Worldwide with Nestlé and Häagen-Dazs Japan.
Four operating segments: North America Retail, International, North America Pet and North America Foodservice.
Where the money came from · Net sales by segment · FY2026
Source: Form 10-K FY2026 (fiscal year ended May 31, 2026), Item 1 and Item 7
Source: Form 10-K FY2026, Item 1 and Item 7 (MD&A)
Growth: revenue vs. people
$16.9B → $18.4B
40,000 → 30,000
Fiscal years end in late May (FY2026 ended May 31, 2026). Net sales: SEC XBRL financial data from General Mills' 10-K filings. Employees: Form 10-K of each year, approximate (FY2019–FY2020 stated as full- and part-time employees). Multiples calculated by eciffo.
Chief executives
Joined General Mills in 1994 in marketing for Betty Crocker, Yoplait and Big G cereals. CEO since June 2017 and Chairman since January 2018.
Chairman and CEO from 2007 until he handed the CEO role to Harmening on June 1, 2017.
Founder: Cadwallader C. Washburn (1866 mill). James Ford Bell created General Mills in 1928.
Source: Form 10-K FY2026 (executive officers) · Proxy statement 2026 · General Mills press release filed with Form 8-K, 2017 · generalmills.com history stories
General Mills: questions people ask
Where is General Mills' headquarters?
At Number One General Mills Boulevard in Golden Valley, Minnesota, just west of Minneapolis (the mailing address reads Minneapolis, MN 55426). The company has been there since 1958.
Source: Form 10-K FY2026 cover · HGA project page · generalmills.com
Who designed General Mills' headquarters?
HGA has been General Mills' architect for more than 25 years, designing the expansions, renovations and site work around the original 1958 main building. McGough built the 2022 Main Street and 2025 workplace renovations.
Source: HGA project page · McGough project pages
How big is the General Mills headquarters?
HGA lists the World Headquarters at 500,000 gross sq ft (≈ 46,452 m²). The 2025 interior renovation alone covered 370,000 sq ft.
Source: HGA project page · McGough project page
What is on the General Mills campus?
The Champions Center “Main Street” has a work lounge, a Caribou Coffee café, a grab-and-go café, an Aveda salon, a fitness center, a credit union and the company store.
Source: HGA Champions Center project page
Do General Mills employees work from the office?
Headquarters job postings say General Mills follows a North America in-office expectation of four days a week, Monday through Thursday; Friday can be worked remotely depending on business needs and team norms.
Source: General Mills job posting 10128870 (2026)
What parental leave does General Mills offer?
In the U.S., 18–20 weeks of fully paid time off for new birth mothers and 12 weeks of parental leave for fathers, partners and adoptive parents, plus two weeks of paid caregiver leave.
Source: General Mills press release, Aug 29, 2018
How much do General Mills employees make?
The median employee's total compensation was $63,212 in fiscal 2026. Minneapolis job postings in 2026 listed base salaries from $51,300–$70,700 (Administrative Assistant) to $128,900–$214,900 (Senior Brand Manager).
Source: Proxy statement 2026 · General Mills job postings
How many people work at General Mills?
About 30,000 at the end of fiscal 2026 (May 31, 2026): about 15,000 in the U.S. and 15,000 elsewhere, of whom about 12,000 work in production.
Source: Form 10-K FY2026
Can you visit where General Mills started?
Yes. The ruins of the Washburn “A” mill, rebuilt in 1880 and closed by General Mills in 1965, reopened in 2003 as the Mill City Museum in Minneapolis.
Source: generalmills.com, “The explosion that changed milling”
Who is General Mills' CEO?
Jeffrey L. Harmening, CEO since June 2017 and Chairman since January 2018. He joined General Mills in 1994.
Source: Form 10-K FY2026 · Proxy statement 2026
You have seen the office, the benefits and the pay
Want to work at General Mills?
See open jobs on General Mills's careers site ↗Or keep exploring: compare these benefits and offices with other companies below.
General Mills in our features
- Food & drink · 11 companies11 Food and Beverage Company Headquarters
- Midwest · 19 companies19 Company Headquarters in the Midwest, From Chicago to Akron
- History · 97 companies97 Companies Founded Before 1900: Where They Started and Where They Work Now
- History · 275 companiesThen and Now: 275 Companies’ Early Offices Next to Today’s Headquarters
- Video · 126 companiesOffice Tour Videos: Inside 126 Company Headquarters
- Benefits · 319 companiesPerks at 319 Big Companies: What They Offer to Keep People
- History · 130 companiesWhere 130 Famous Companies Started: Garages, Shops and One-Room Offices
- Inside the office · 194 companiesInside 194 Company Cafeterias and Office Cafés
- Architecture · 216 companies216 Company Headquarters Designed by Famous Architects
You may also like
Also feeding the world
Neighbors in the Twin Cities
Household brands with a campus headquarters
More company profiles
ABN AMROAmsterdam, NetherlandsOffices, pay & benefits → 
AccentureDublin, IrelandOffices, pay & benefits → 
adidasHerzogenaurach, GermanyOffices, pay & benefits → 
AdobeSan Jose, CaliforniaOffices, pay & benefits → 
AdyenAmsterdam, NetherlandsOffices, pay & benefits → 
AflacColumbus, GeorgiaOffices, pay & benefits → Photos are credited to their source. If you hold the rights or represent General Mills and want a photo changed or removed, contact us. Updated 2026-10-10.
General Mills's official social accounts
Accounts linked from careers.generalmills.com. Office tour videos are on the official GeneralMillsCareers channel.