Minnesota Business Developments
By Rhonda Mix- rhonda.mix@state.mn.us
September 2009 
Every edition of Minnesota Employment Review features important business developments statewide, including the details of company expansions, relocations, job creation, and significant layoffs.
Check out these recent developments below, broken down by region.
Northern Region
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development’s Minnesota Job Skills Partnership (MJSP) announced a $274,000 grant to support lean and technical training for employees of Lakewood Health System, a health care provider in Staples. The three-year training collaboration includes MJSP, Lakewood Health System, and Central Lakes College. Lean training in the health care environment focuses on eliminating waste and identifies steps that add value to the entire health care delivery process. Central Lakes College will collaborate with Alexandria Technical College to deliver customized classroom and online lean courses, such as Foundations of Lean, Workplace Organization and Visual Workplace, Process Mapping, and Project Mentorship for more than 850 employees.
Central Region
NuCrane Manufacturing, a joint venture company of Hutchinson Manufacturing, Inc. and Westinghouse Electric Co., plans to build a new manufacturing facility near Hutchinson Manufacturing’s current headquarters in Hutchinson. A maker of specialty cranes for nuclear power plants, NuCrane expects to create up to 50 new jobs in Hutchinson.
A new flagship refinery, Ever Cat Fuels, opened in Isanti. The $9 million pilot plant is designed to produce up to 4 million gallons annually of clean diesel fuel made from waste oils, weeds, sewage-treatment residue, and algae. The plant operates 24 hours a day with a staff of 20. Ever Cat anticipates expanding its output at its Isanti plant from 4 million to 10 million gallons annually.
Osceola, Wis.-based Xccent Inc. is moving its headquarters and manufacturing plant to Wyoming, Minn., where the company is building a 100,000-square-foot facility. A manufacturer of playground equipment for schools and park districts, the company plans to employ about a 100 people at the Wyoming plant by the end of 2010.
Twin Cities Metro Region
The law firm of Hellmuth & Johnson plans to build a new 35,000-square-foot headquarters office on a 2.4-acre site in Edina. Hellmuth & Johnson has grown every year ever since its start in 1994. The law firm expects to increase its workforce from about 75 people currently to 100 to 120 people by the time it moves into its new facility in late 2010.
Galil Medical is moving its global headquarters to Arden Hills. With offices currently in Yokneam, Israel, Plymouth Meeting, Pa., and London, the company, which manufactures needles that deliver super cold gas that destroys cancer tumors, plans to open its Arden Hills facility during fourth quarter 2009.
Steady growth has prompted Reliable Medical Supply Inc., a company that sells home-health-care products, to move its headquarters to a larger building in Brooklyn Park. The new 40,000-square-foot facility is more than double its previous location in Brooklyn Park. The company currently employs about 90 people.
The Minnesota Orchestral Association plans a $40 million expansion and renovation of Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis. Golden Valley-based Mortenson Construction is the general contractor for the project which is expected to be completed by 2013.
Northwestern College plans to build a 70,000-square-foot centerpiece facility on its campus located on the border of Arden Hills and Roseville. It will be named in honor of the evangelist Billy Graham who was the college’s second president and who founded the school’s radio station, KTIS-FM. The Billy Graham Community Life Commons will provide new dining facilities, an expanded campus store, classrooms, and study and meeting facilities. The general contractor for the project is Minneapolis-based Adolfson & Peterson Construction, and the Minneapolis architectual firm of Perkins + Will is designing the facility.
Southern Region
The Highwater Ethanol plant in Lamberton recently held its grand opening. The new plant will produce 55 million gallons of ethanol and nearly 180,000 tons of livestock feed a year using approximately 20 million bushels of Minnesota-grown corn.