Super Radiator Coils (SRC) recently broke ground at its manufacturing facility in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to build a 22,000 sq.-ft. addition to meet demand for heat exchanger coils that are used at nuclear power plants, as well as other applications. The company previously expanded its original 65,000 sq.-ft. plant in 2012 with a 13,000 sq.-ft. addition to build the same equipment.
The company is one of only three manufacturers in the world that are certified by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to meet its high quality standards for nuclear power plant equipment and to display the society’s “N-Stamp” on its coils. The company also has a 110,000 sq. ft. plant in Richmond, VA, and two facilities in Phoenix, AZ, that total 65,000 sq. ft.
SRC will provide most of the funding itself for the new addition, but the company has been approved to receive a $287,500 grant from the Job Creation Fund of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). In addition, it will receive a $150,000 loan from the Carver County Business Loan Fund.
“The Minnesota Job Creation Fund was launched just seven months ago, but it has already helped more than a dozen businesses across the state expand, creating hundreds of new jobs,” said Governor Mark Dayton. “I thank Super Radiator Coils for this important expansion, and for the up to 30 new jobs this project will create.”
The new $4 million addition will result in the new jobs being created over the next three years for highly skilled workers, according to Rob Holt, SRC’s President and CEO. The privately held company employs more than 350 people at its three facilities.
“We are delighted to be adding more Minnesota manufacturing jobs to help us build equipment for the growing nuclear power market, as well as for other commercial and industrial markets both here at home and internationally,” he continued. “Those include heat exchanger coils for food processing companies, equipment for the compressed natural gas industry, and products for the military.”
“Growth for this type of coils has exceeded our forecasts primarily due to the general economic recovery, especially in manufacturing capital equipment, and aging equipment in nuclear power plants in North America and Mexico,” Holt continued. As an example, he cited a $4.5 million contract the company received to build safety equipment for the Wolf Creek Nuclear Plant in Burlington, KS.
SRC’s ASME N-stamp coils are already installed at 15 nuclear power plants in the United States. The company is currently in an eight-year project to supply coils for Pacific Gas & Electric’s Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant in San Luis Obispo County, CA.
SRC’s rapid cool-down coils are critical safety related components for emergency shutdown procedures in the event a loss of cooling accident occurs inside a nuclear power plant. The large banks of coils are built with specially designed tubes and fins that quickly lower the temperature and pressure of the atmosphere in the containment building, which houses the fuel rods.
Founded in 1928, SRC is headquartered in Minneapolis. The company custom designs and manufactures condenser, evaporator, steam and other coils for more than 20 industries, including HVAC equipment manufacturers; chemical producers; petroleum operations; pharmaceuticals; pulp and paper companies; food processing, refrigeration storage and display equipment.
DEED is the state’s principal economic development agency, promoting business recruitment, expansion and retention, workforce development, international trade and community development. For more details about the agency and our services, visit us at http://mn.gov/deed/ . Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/mndeed .