For months Maplewood-based 3M has maintained a few dozen workers in the CoCo collaborative co-working space in Lowertown’s St. Paul neighborhood.

Across from the St. Paul Union Depot and the Metro Transit Green Line station, the collaborative work space has allowed a window onto downtown St. Paul, and onto projects that the national brand is keeping close to its vest.

Now, city officials and business advocates are responding to reports that 3M may be looking for more permanent space downtown.

If so, the return of 3M — even in some limited capacity — would represent an about-face that would be fully embraced by the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce and City Hall. 3M officials wouldn’t confirm or deny an interest in acquiring new office space beyond the CoCo collaborative.

After a century on the city’s East Side, 3M completed its relocation from St. Paul to Maplewood in 2009, leaving the Port Authority to sell and redevelop the 46-acre property.

“I’ve called 3M leadership to … welcome them (and assure them) this is the place for them to go if they’re looking for a progressive and innovative community,” said St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce President B. Kyle. “We want them.”

3M officials are saying little about their plans.

“The fact that we have a location in the CoCo area is public knowledge,” said company spokeswoman Fanna Haile-Selassie. “We have a LinkedIn post on it. … We moved in just about a year ago now. We currently have about 75 people working in the space.”

Working with a task force of educational and business leaders, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and City Council Member Chris Tolbert recently unveiled a plan to draw 2,000 technology and innovation jobs to the city by the year 2020.

Alongside that goal, the “Full Stack St. Paul” task force hopes to encourage building owners to establish 200,000 square feet of collaborative and tech-friendly office space, the type of which St. Paul sorely lacks.

“Innovation companies love that idea,” Kyle said.

Neighborhoods such as the Minneapolis North Loop have drawn architecture firms, startup web companies and other creative innovators with modern, open-air office space geared toward a mobile, collaborative workforce, but business advocates say St. Paul is falling behind.

But there’s change afoot.

The St. Paul Area Chamber, which is co-leading the Full Stack effort with the city of St. Paul, has pointed to the former Ecolab Tower in downtown St. Paul, which will soon become Osborn370, featuring multiple floors of co-working space.

“We have some options for them, depending upon what they’re looking for,” Kyle said.