BLAINE, MINNESOTA, U.S. — Crown, a division of CPM Holdings Inc., broke ground on a new global headquarters in Blaine, Minnesota, U.S.

The 68,000-square-foot facility will accommodate a 37% increase in global headquarters staff and an Innovation Center featuring a 15,000-square-foot pilot plant — triple the size of the current pilot plant.

The headquarters and Innovation Center will serve as a world-class resource to global manufacturers within the oil seed processing industry, Crown said.

“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,” said Mike Hoerle, vice-president of global engineering at Crown.

The Innovation Center will include a fully functional and highly instrumented pilot plant with preparation, extraction, protein concentrate, and refining equipment with a control system, allowing customers to simulate plant-processing operations within a controlled environment. It also will 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,” said Bill Antilla, general manager, Crown Global Companies. “Our new 68,000-square-foot global headquarters and world class Innovation Center fully leverages Crown’s industry-leading technology and talented global team to further expand 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.