Food ingredients maker Vision Processing Technologies is expanding operations in Owatonna, Minn., with 20 new jobs and a 15,000-square-foot building addition, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.
The project will give the company more room to add equipment and expand production. Vision Processing moved to Owatonna in 2010 after being headquartered in Litchfield, where it still has a production facility.
DEED is assisting Vision Processing with the expansion, providing the company with a $400,000 low-interest loan from its Minnesota Investment Fund.
“I congratulate Vision Processing Technologies on their new expansion and for the 20 new jobs this expansion will create in Owatonna,” Gov. Mark Dayton stated in a news release. “This business expansion — and the many others that have been made possible with help from the Minnesota Investment Fund — offer good news for our state, our economy and the many Minnesotans these businesses employ.”
Dayton and state leaders committed $108 million in economic development funding in the 2013 legislative session, including $30 million for the Minnesota Investment Fund.
Founded in 2003, Vision Processing specializes in customized product formulations, ingredient processing and particle coating within the food and beverage and nutraceutical sectors. The company’s products include CrystaLock, a hydrogenated oil alternative that is used in a wide variety of applications, including organic nut butters, to prevent oil separation. Other products include powders for teas, coffee and hot chocolate.