Kiger's Notebook

West Concord biz + $125,000 fed contract

Here's another local business that has landed a decent sized federal contract, according to info from the Targeted News Service.

The e-mail list of Minnesota businesses that received federal contracts today includes Clean Plus Inc.of West Concord, Minn. for a contract valued at $125,000 from the General Services Administration's Federal Acquisition Service, Fort Worth, Texas, for cleaning equipment and supplies.

I talked to Clean Plus back in May 2008 when the then-22-employee company landed in $25,000 capital seed money from the nonprofit Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation.

Here's some from that story. I'll check in with the Coys to see if I can find anything about this new fed contract.

One of those "flavors" of biobusiness includes using corn husks and waste to absorb oil spills.

That's the plan of Clean Plus Inc., a company based in West Concord. 

"We've created it on a micro-mini level," says Matt Coy of Clean Plus. "This seed money will help us take it from small scale up to at least a pilot plant as a step to bring it to market."

The product is projected to absorb five times as much as the materials already on the market, and it is easier to dispose of, he said. If it makes it to full production, Coy says his 22-employee company definitely would grow.

And the success of such a product could be very rewarding.

"The market for this in the U.S. is in excess of $1 billion a year," he said.

Is the "Honeycrisp killer" apple ripening?

This is some from one of the apple stories I have in today's paper. This is a juicy deal, so make sure you have a napkin handy. Heh.

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“The best apple I’ve ever eaten in my life.”

That’s a strong statement from Dennis Courtier, a self-described “apple geek” and the president of Pepin Heights Orchards in Lake City.

Is he talking about Honeycrisp, the wildly popular apple created by the University of Minnesota and now the official state apple?

Nope.  

“It is definitely better than Honeycrisp,” said Courtier, munching on a slice of apple while standing among rows of trees just reaching maturity.

Despite heavily marketing and growing Honeycrisp himself for many years, he is preparing what he believes is a new contender for the top spot on the apple tree, a “Honeycrisp killer,” if you will.

The name of this hardcore up-and-comer? SweeTango.

Don’t despair, Honeycrisp fans. With Honeycrisp being grown on about 6 million trees, it will be around for a long time. 

Being planted in such profusion is part of the reason Honeycrisp might be taken down a notch or two. Described as “a bit fussy” and “very site-sensitive” by the U of M’s research pomologist (apple breeder) David Bedford, it must be planted in a cold climate to produce the best-tasting fruit.

As its popularity grew, the gigantic West Coast apple growers decided they should plant the Minnesota upstart, in a big way. 

That has resulted in what Courtier and Bedford see as a steady deterioration of the overall quality of the Honeycrisp apples rolling onto the market. 

A bad apple or two can spoil more than the bunch. It can ruin a variety’s reputation, they say.

Honeycrisp trees grown in cold climates, such as the orchards in Minnesota, still produce quality fruit.

Looking for the next hot apple variety, Courtier turned to the U of M and discovered SweeTango.

With only a test number and no name, the early trees grew in Pepin Heights’ research and development plot. Soon the apple’s taste, texture and site flexibility marked the nameless apple as one to watch.

Courtier decided to plant the new variety in larger numbers as well as licensing the fruit with a name that he created himself.

This apple season, which is just starting (Pepin Heights’ retail store opened last week), will mark SweeTango’s debut.  

Don’t expect to buy bushels. Only a small number will be available. Look for production to grow 20 percent to 40 percent a year with “plenty” of SweeTango being available in 2011.

Does Bedford, who often tastes up to 500 to 600 apple a day, agree with Courtier’s assessment of SweeTango?

“It might not be a Honeycrisp killer, but it is a competitor. It is the only apple that holds its own in a blind taste test against Honeycrisp,” he said. “I’d say they are one and two of the best-tasting apples. It is just that, depending on the day, I’m just not sure which is one and which is two.”

AM Espresso @ Leashes & Leads

A large herd of local business networkers surrounded the puppy training area this morning at Leashes  & Leads, the mega structure on a hill overlooking U.S. 15 West between Byron and Rochester.

Owner Jerry Fischer showed off the massive facility focused on pets like dogs and horses and the humans that love them.

He trotted out some new projects (which I'll mention in my Monday column, hopefully) and served up lemonade freshly squeezed after being picked from a grove in California.

The crowd lingered a bit when a deluge of rain pounded down.

And Grace, a retired show dog and former puppy trainer, was the hit of the morning as she regally padded around the store.

Salem Glen Winery + big new tasting center

Dustin Ebert @ Salem Glen Winery at the edge of Rochester has been busy this summer.

Beside bottling up reds, whites and fruity wines (Rhubarb and cranberry), Ebert has been overseeing the construction of a large two story complex to serve as a new tasting room and events center. 

It also will have a large deck for people to enjoy wine and maybe even talk a little bit.

Salem Glen has been growing in popularity for local group gathering as the vines have grown more mature over the past few years.

I'll have more on this in Monday's Business section.

Like a hog on ice...in Rochester

For those saying it out there, I am NOT obsessed with artificial insemination of livestock.

It is just an interesting industry, which seems to be well-represented in Rochester.

Here's an item from today's column:

What do you do when a pig outgrows a pen?

Get a larger pen.

The same holds true for a growing business (without most of the mess.)

Norsvin, a swine genetics company, moved its headquarters from Harmony to Rochester in January.

“We just needed a larger headquarters. We were outgrowing our office,” said Norsvin General Manager Roxi Thompson.

Now the staff of 11 people has space to move around at 2768 Superior Drive N.W., south of Mr. Pizza North.

And what does the swine genetics company do? 

“We provide live animals and semen to pork producers across North America,” she said.