CPM Crown Iron Announces New Global Headquarters and Innovation Center

World-Class Facility Begins Construction in Blaine, Minnesota, USA. CPM Crown breaks ground on its new global headquarters to support the 140-year-old company’s commitment to growth and innovation. CPM Crown’s new 68,000 square foot facility in Blaine, Minnesota will accommodate a 37% increase in global headquarters staff, and fuel technological advancements for the company and its customers through its state-of-the-art Innovation Center featuring a 15,000 square foot pilot plant—triple the size of their current pilot plant. CPM Crown’s Global Headquarters and Innovation Center will serve as a world-class resource to leading global manufacturers within the oil seed processing industry. It is designed to harness the creativity and ingenuity of CPM Crown’s team to develop innovative solutions and technologies for customers around the world. “Our goal is to be the ‘first-call’ for customers looking for a technology partner to transform their manufacturing capabilities by reducing energy and water usage, improving yields, and reducing capital and operating costs,” says Mike Hoerle, CPM Crown’s Vice President of Global Engineering. The flagship Innovation Center will include a fully functional and highly instrumented pilot plant with preparation, extraction, protein concentrate, and refining equipment connected to a best in class control system, allowing customers to simulate plant-processing operations within a controlled environment. The extensive infrastructure will also support customer interaction in trials and provide maintenance and operation training for customers. ”Our customers are world leaders in the Oilseed Processing industry, and they are demanding innovative approaches to lower the total cost of ownership and operational cost while also improving efficiency,” says Bill Antilla, General Manager, Crown Global Companies. “Our new 68,000 square foot Global Headquarters and World Class Innovation Center fully leverages CPM Crown’s industry-leading technology and talented global team to further expand CPM Crown’s role as a trusted advisor and problem-solving partner to our customers.” Mortenson Construction is developing the $12 million facility with a $1.2 million business subsidy from the city of Blaine to promote economic development in the community. Crown, a division of CPM Holdings Inc., is a 140-year-old, Minnesota-based, global company with additional offices in the United Kingdom, Argentina, Brazil, China, Germany, Honduras, Mexico, Russia, and Ukraine. CPM Crown currently employs 250 people worldwide.