The Ag Innovation Campus (AIC) opened an office in Crookston on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s ground-breaking ceremony. The office is located at 202 South Main Street.
Tom Slunecka, the Executive Director/CEO of the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council and Minnesota Soybean Growers Association this week, represents a big step for the AIC. “This is our first day to have the office here in Crookston, and we just couldn’t be more excited,” said Slunecka. “It’s really a big step for this project, and the Crookston community has been welcoming us with open arms. We really feel this is the right place to be.”
Wednesday’s groundbreaking ceremony, which will begin at 1 p.m., will include Governor Tim Walz and other important partners, explained Slunecka. “The groundbreaking is something we just could not be more excited and thrilled about,” said Slunecka. “We’ve got Governor Walz coming to be a part of the ground-breaking. We’ve got a lot of local support and the politicians that have really put their shoulder to the wheel to help us get the funding to get this thing started. AURI, a staple here in town, is going to be a part of that as well as Vertical Malt. Just a lot of great people that want to see this vision come to fruition.”
While major work won’t begin until next spring, Slunecka said the project should be done in time for the AIC to be crushing next year’s soybean harvest. “We do have a sign up, so people can go see where the facility is, right across from Titan,” said Slunecka. “You’ll maybe see a little bit of work yet this fall, but most likely, when the frost comes out of the ground next spring, we’ll start to see some dirt moved. And they’ll start to see a building being erected sooner thereafter. Our goal is to have the building up and running in the spring or early summer of 2022. So, we’ll be crushing the 2021 harvest in 2022. So, when the farmers go to fields in the spring that they are buying seed for right now, those soybeans could likely be crushed in that facility.”
The office will house the project manager for the AIC, Jim Lambert, and AIC board meetings and other project-related meetings. Lambert said it’d been a lot of hard work, and he’s got a bit more aggressive timeline for the project. “We’re very excited about being in Crookston,” said Lambert. “It’s been a lot of hard work from our board and a lot of other people who’ve been involved – soybean research council and legislators. We do have a lot of work to do over the wintertime, background things like drawings and engineering. But, as Tom said, we expect to hit it full speed in the spring when the frost comes out. My timeline is a little more aggressive than Tom’s. We want to try to get the equipment tested out in 2021. It will be late, maybe December 2021, when you’ll see some action, but most of it will be later in the spring of 2022.”
Lambert thanked the Crookston Housing and Economic Development Authority (CHEDA) and the City of Crookston for helping move the AIC to the point it’s at. “We want to say a special thank you to the City of Crookston for helping us out,” said Lambert. “CHEDA, they’ve been very involved in the project all along. We’re very thankful for their support and hard work. And the whole City of Crookston for making this happen. It’s a lot of work. A lot of excitement around the project, though, and it’s important that we all work together to keep this moving in the right direction. But, again, we really want to thank the City of Crookston and CHEDA for all their help in moving this project ahead.”
