Kiger's Notebook

Rochester founder says Tenex is growing quickly

When pro basketball player Pau Gasol of the L.A. Lakers needed damaged tendons in his knee removed this week, his doctor opted for a noninvasive treatment developed by Mayo Clinic instead of the traditional surgery option.

Gasol now is one of about 5,000 patients that have been treated with Tenex Health Inc.'s TX1 instrument, since the firm took its specialty needle system to market at the start of 2012.

Dr. Jagi Gill, of Rochester, founded Tenex in 2009, and it received approval from the Food and Drug Administration in 2011. Since then it has quickly been gaining traction and is now listing "multi-millions" in sales.

"We moved past the 'Will it work?' and 'Can we make it?' stages. Now we are building a sales team and working a marketing message," Gill said.

Tenex now is selling the system to doctors. The firm has 12 sales representatives, and he hopes to grow that number to 40 by the third quarter of 2013.

Gill began his career in Mayo Clinic's Department of Neurology. He has since worked at Boston Scientific as well as a number of biotechnology start-ups.

Tenex's one-time use, disposable handpiece was developed and commercialized in collaboration with Mayo Clinic. Tenex licenses technology from Mayo Clinic and in turn, Mayo owns equity in Tenex.

"The folks at Mayo have been very helpful," he said.

The TX1 system uses ultrasound technology to treat damaged tendons or soft tissue in elbows, knees, ankles, feet and shoulders. Unlike surgery, patients can walk out after what is often a procedure no longer than 20 minutes.

"It is well-tolerated and safe as an injection," says Gill.

That and the quick recovery are making Tenex very popular with athletes, people with work-related injuries and patients who simply "want to have an active lifestyle."

Gasol is not the only celebrity who has discovered Tenex. TV and radio personality Ryan Seacrest has also has his elbow treated with the TX1 system.

At one point, Tenex looked at Rochester, nearby Elk Run and even Willmar, Minn., as possible locations for a manufacturing facility. In the end, the decision was made to acquire the California company that handled the early manufacturing on a contract basis.

So why not do the manufacturing in Rochester?

"The challenge that any company would have in going here is that there isn't a lot of experience in terms of engineering, manufacturing, production, quality systems," says Gill.

He explained that medical device hotspots, not only have a medical system or university for generating ideas, but also "They have an imbedded group of people that know how to turn on an infrastructure."

Plug pulled on IBM's record breaking computer Roadrunner

IBM's record-breaking Roadrunner supercomputer was the fastest computer in the world when introduced five years ago.

But this week, it was retired and soon will be dismantled, surpassed by other machines in the fast-evolving world of supercomputers.

The Roadrunner, which owed much of its hybrid design and manufacture to Big Blue's Rochester campus, was the first machine to break the computer industry's "sound barrier" in 2008 by clocking a petaflop or one quadrillion calculations per second.

“We just all looked around and said, ‘We made it,’” stated Peter Keller, who was part of the Rochester manufacturing team that recorded that historic milestone on May 25, 2008.

The plug was pulled on the $121 million supercomputer on Easter Sunday at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

"Roadrunner, while I would not define it as strictly obsolete, it has been surpassed by newer technology," said Kevin Roark, of Los Alamos. "It's perfectly normal. …This is the natural progression."

Roadrunner's duties are being shifted over to Los Alamos' Cielo supercomputer, which is made by Seattle-based Cray Inc. Two years younger than Roadrunner, Roark describes it as faster, smaller, less expensive and more energy-efficient than its IBM predecessor.

Until it was shut down, Roadrunner ran 24 hours a day, seven days a week since being delivered to the laboratory via 25 trucks.

While it now is being experimented on as it waits to be dismantled and shredded, Roadrunner took Los Alamos' work on the United States' nuclear weapons stockpile to a new level.

"It has performed remarkably well. It has really helped us solve some fundamental problems that were essentially unsolvable before a computer of its speed," Roark said.

It wasn't just its speed that made Roadrunner so groundbreaking. The revolutionary hybrid design that coordinated the use of different types of computer chips, including Cell chips originally designed in Rochester to be used in Sony's PlayStation 3 video game system.

"Roadrunner was a truly pioneering idea," said Gary Grider, of Los Alamos' High Performance Computing Division, in a statement. "Roadrunner got everyone thinking in new ways about how to build and use a supercomputer."

Los Alamos teamed up with IBM to build Roadrunner from commercially available parts. They ended up with 278 refrigerator-size racks filled with two different types of processors, all linked together by 55 miles of fiber optic cable.

The supercomputer has been used over the last five years to model viruses and unseen parts of the universe, to better understand lasers and for nuclear weapons work. That includes simulations aimed at ensuring the safety and reliability of the nation's aging arsenal.

Roadrunner was the world's fastest computer for 18 months. At its peak, it was two times faster than Blue Gene/L, which was IBM’s star machine and the fastest computer in the world in 2007.

Its historic speed kept Roadrunner on the Top 500 Fastest Computers list, despite being outdated. It still ranked as 22nd fastest machine in the world in November.

IBM had four of the top 10 fastest computers on that November list, and all had roots in Rochester. Sequoia, a BlueGene/ Q, took the No. 2 spot behind Cray's Titan. Other BlueGenes — Miram JUQUEEN and Fermi — locked up the fourth, fifth and ninth spots.

Crenlo + Space and Naval Warfare Systems contract

Rochester's manufacturer, Crenlo, has been awarded a federal contract by The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, which is part of the U.S. Navy.

I don't know a lot about it. It looks to be for customized cabinets under Crenlo's Emcor brand. The cabinets are slated to be used in a moderization project at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in New Orleans. 

SPAWAR (which always makes me think of Spa War, like Liliac Wellness and Healing Touch fighting on some battlefield somewhere. Heh) has a long relationship with Mayo Clinic.

For many years, the Special Purpose Processor Development Group in the Mayo Support Center has had a contract with SPAWAR to develop/test electronics, some which are used with missiles.

Hhhmmm... Just noticed that contract was renewed last year for $28.4 million and it runs through 2017. Think I need to follow that up one of these days.

Anyway, back to Crenlo, I spotted a posting about its contract on the Federal Business Opportunities website from Feb. 27. Here's some of that:

The SPAWAR Systems Center Atlantic, New Orleans Office intends to award a firm fixed price purchase order for the items on the attached document. Manufacturer-Crenlo.

No other product will be accepted. Brand name only - an equal product will not be accepted. This is a Small Business Set-Aside only. No electronic or hard copy Request for Quote (RFQ) will be prepared or made available for distribution.

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Award will be made on an all or nothing basis. The Government will accept quotes from all responsible sources with the capability to provide the BRAND NAME product cited and will award a contract resulting from this RFQ to the responsible vendor whose offer conforms to the solicitation and is considered to be the Lowest Priced Technically Acceptable offer.

The part numbers must be the manufacturer's part numbers. The Crenlo cabinetry must conform to the critical design requirements of SSCLANT Drawing 29355-525209-01 (attached) and interface with the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS), Visual Information Display System (VIDS), Enhanced Terminal Voice Switch and Visual Communications System (VISCOM) equipment procured for the National Airspace Modernization at NAS JRB New Orleans.

Crenlo EMCOR has devloped custom mechanical interfaces for this equipment.

Crenlo laying off 17 workers

Crenlo, which employs more than 600 workers at two locations in Rochester, has announced the imminent layoff of 17 hourly employees, according to news reports.

Crenlo's last major layoff was in 2009, when it laid off 193 employees during a rough fiscal year. The company recalled more than 140 of the laid-off workers, though about 30 were later laid off again.

Crenlo, which has two plants in Rochester, is a manufacturer of steel frame cab enclosures and rollover structures for equipment in the construction, agriculture, and commercial equipment markets. It also produces a line of electronic equipment enclosures.

The company was founded in Rochester in 1951. It is owned by International Equipment Solutions, an affiliate of KPS Capital Partners of New York City. That is the second owner since its local owners sold the company to an Illinois company, Dover Corp., in 1999.

Calif. tech firm pulls plug on Med City facility

A California tech firm recently pulled out of Rochester, after having an development lab here since 2006.

PMC-Sierra, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based semiconductor maker, recently closed down its more than 8,500-square-foot facility at 3555 Ninth St. N.W. It moved into that space in 2010 and had about 20 employees working there at that time.

It is not know exactly when the Med City location closed up shop or even exactly why it closed. PMC-Sierra responded to questions with a brief statement attributed to Ron May, director of corporate marketing communications.

"The PMC Rochester facility opened in 2006 and our Adaptec acquisition in 2010 facilitated ending the project for which the site was originally opened; relocation assistance to our Colorado Springs facility or severance and job search assistance was offered to all remaining engineering employees."

It is unclear how the $34 million purchase of the "channel storage" division of a company like Adaptec impacted the Rochester site. PMC-Sierra spent at least $250,000 in November 2010 to build out the Ninth Street facility. It acquired Adaptec seven months prior to that.

Prior to the 2010 move, PMC-Sierra's Med City location had previously been based at 3605 U.S. 52 North in what used to be called the IBM White Buildings.

When asked what was driving its expansion in Rochester two years ago, PMC-Sierra released this statement:

 "... A large pool of experienced and talented individuals who have the technical expertise to work on PMC’s semiconductor solutions."

It is worth noting that PMC-Sierra was collaborating with IBM at that time  on "a multi-core, multi-threaded RAID solution" at that time. The resulting maxRAID device was used in Big Blue's new System x EXA servers.

While many details are not known, it is clear that PMC-Sierra has followed in the footsteps of other technology firms like JDS Uniphase and Celestica. It has definitely pulled the plug on its presence in Rochester.

Growing tech firm is dialing up larger Rochester facility

Communication is key to getting almost anything done today, making reliable cellular signals very valuable for businesses and individuals.
At the cellular level, keeping people and machines connected is what WPS Antennas is all about.

Just as the cellular industry has exploded in the past decade, WPS has grown from a tiny Rochester business into a global operation with major Fortune 500 companies as customers.

Now WPS, which was formed in 2001, has outgrown its base in the Rochester Airport Business Park on the south side of the city.

WPS Chief Manager Bob Crowley and Marketing Manager Matt Larson are now taking their company north to a much larger facility at 3035 40th Ave. N.W. near Rochester Restaurant Supply in the West Circle Drive Industrial Park.

Mike Haley, of Braasch Commercial Real Estate, handled the deal.

"We're more than doubling our space," Larson syas. "We're essentially going from 2,600-square-feet up to 6,000 square feet."

That means the 10-employee firm will have more room to warehouse its cellular antennas, cabling and related equipment.

When WPS began in 2001, it carried less than 100 different antennas and parts to serve customers. That number has skyrocketed to more than 5,700.

While WPS is not adding staff, the expansion means the firm will be more efficient in designing and assembling customized antennas for its wide variety of clients.

"Right now, everyone is stacked on top of each other," Larson says.

WPS has already started its move. If everything goes as planned, Larson expects to be completely up and running in the new facility by the end of the month.

These aren't your father's TV antennas. WPS provides antenna systems for a national movie DVD vending machine firm plus all sorts of other vending machines that accept credit cards. Their systems can also be found in bank ATMs, cash registers, alarm systems and many other everyday machines that need a constant signal.

WPS antennas are not always the primary communication link. Many companies use antennas as "fail-safe" devices to keep data flowing when a cable is broken. A couple of convenience store chains sport WPS antennas on their roofs to keep the cash registers talking to the head office, even if a backhoe digs through a communication line.

"We're kind of like a backup power generator," Larson says.

Another, smaller piece of their business, is helping homeowners and small businesses to boost cellular phone reception within buildings.

Cellular coverage is becoming such a necessity in today's society that local doctors and others who are on-call for emergencies avoid businesses without adequate signals, Larson says.

Stewartville co. to build $10M expansion, add 50 to 60 jobs

A Stewartville manufacturer says it will soon build a $10 million to $12 million complex and add 50 to 60 new jobs.

Jim Conway, CEO and president of catheter maker Rochester Medical Corp., says the 54,000-square-foot complex will include an automated production line, clean-room packaging facilities, offices and warehouse space.

The expansion is expected to increase production by about 1 million catheters, and the company anticipates adding 50 to 60 employees to its Stewartville work force of about 250. Rochester Medical has about 400 employees worldwide.

The new building will be near Rochester Medical's current facility on the hill above Pizza Ranch, overlooking U.S. 63. Conway says it will be built on a field long slated for expansion. Company officials are waiting for bids from contractors but hope to have the project under way this fall.

Rochester Medical updated its manufacturing lines this spring, which increased production by 50 percent.

The firm, which sells about two-thirds of its products outside of the United States, posted its best-ever earnings in May and a record $15.25 million in sales. It wrapped up its fourth quarter at the end of September, and the 2012 earnings are expected to be released by the end of this month.

The expansion is driven by a new project that is picking up speed.

"The main reason we want to get started right now is a new catheter technology that we are super excited about," Conway says. "We didn't know this was coming. This has come up in the past seven or eight months."

While he is keeping the technical details under wraps for now, this new development is described as "very significant," and Rochester Medical is anxious to get it to the market.

The company historically has focused on unique innovations vs. "me-too" products. This week it released a new type of male external catheter with a special adhesive that allows moisture to be wicked away through its silicone sheath. It's the first of its kind on the market.

"That's the only way we are able to compete with the multi-billion-dollar companies that are our competitors," Conway says.

He says Rochester Medical's unconventional approach to research and design has fueled its success. Instead of a separate R&D department, it uses small teams made up of people from all areas, like research, manufacturing, packaging and marketing, to work on projects. That approach brings a variety of viewpoints together to develop a new product and a path to take the concept to market.

Roch schools buy Market Square building

Here's some from an article by Matthew Stolle about the school district buying the almost empty Rochester Market Square building for $2.1 million.

I guess the buzz about the schools looking at buying a commercial building that I reported back in June panned out. Toot. That was me tooting my own horn. Heh.

I remember back when Tom and Joe Haley along with Darren Groteboer broke ground for the home building mall in 2005.

The district seems to have gotten a good price. The property was listed at $3.5 million on Loopnet.com last month.

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The Rochester School Board on Tuesday approved the purchase of the Rochester Market Square building in southeastern Rochester for the purpose of relocating the district's area learning center programs, housed at Golden Hill Education Center.

The board agreed to buy the 56,000 square-foot, L-shaped structure for $2.1 million, nearly two months after it began negotiations with the owner, SA Group Properties.

Officials estimate that remodeling the building into a school — work that is set to begin in January so that the new school will be ready for the start of the 2013-2014 school year — will cost an additional $6.6 million, bringing the total cost of the project to $8.7 million.

"It's going to be a good deal," said Rochester Superintendent Michael Munoz after the meeting. "They are going to get a better facility to be educated. And we're going to be able to possibly expand the services that we offer them."

There is one unique twist to the arrangement. The market square building is empty but for a single tenant, a Sherwin-Williams paint business that is halfway through its 10-year lease. It so far has expressed no interest in quitting the space it occupies, which is at the top end of the L-shaped building, away from the main part of the building, officials say.

By agreeing to buy the building, the district also purchased the lease held by the previous owner, a detail that will affect the project's financing and make the district a rent collector.
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Even with the tenant there, officials say, the market square structure will be a roomier place for staff, students and programs, allowing the consolidation of some ALC programs that are scattered at different sites. Golden Hill is a building of 36,000 square feet, while market square has 56,000 square feet. Sherwin-Williams occupies about 6,000 square feet of that space, still leaving 50,000 square feet for the school and enough space to accommodate an elementary school-sized gym.

A large garden that students and community groups have been working on at Golden Hill will also be transferred to the new site, officials say.

Stewartville manufacturer rolls out new catheter

Building upon an innovation it first introduced in 1990, Rochester Medical Corp. is rolling out a new product that is unique in the catheter industry.

The Stewartville-based catheter and medical equipment maker has created a product that is designed to make long-term use more comfortable for patients.

The new product, called Spirit, is an enhancement to the male external catheter, also known as a sheath or condom-style device worn by men with incontinence. The catheter is held on with an adhesive and connects to a collection bag worn under the patient's clothing.

Rochester Medical introduced the first silicone external catheter in 1990, a time when catheters were mostly made with latex.

Silicone has proven to be popular with patients and doctors for a variety of reasons. The breathable nature of the material, in particular, makes it more comfortable for the patient. However, prolonged wear can still be damaging due to trapped moisture in the skin, somewhat like wearing a band-aid for a long time.

To address the issue, Rochester Medical has developed a "hydrocolloid" adhesive that wicks moisture away through the silicone.

Acknowledging the awkward nature of their products, CEO and President Anthony J. Conway points out that this enhancement could mean a lot to a patient's quality of life and ability to go about their daily activities with as few limitations as possible.

"If you need to wear something like this, this a big deal," he says. "We feel really good about this."

While this is an enhancement on Rochester Medical's standard external product, Conway points out that the direct cost for the patient is expected to remain the same. Both catheters are covered for the same amount by Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance plans.

Rochester Medical contracts its products through medical supply companies and networks of medical centers and hospitals as well as marketing directly to urologists.

From the company's experience with introducing products in the past, Conway expects sales of the Spirit to increase slowly.

"Most of our growth with new products comes from new patients," he says. "It will take some time, but we believe this will do well."

FedEx on the rise in Stewartville

The steel frame of a 60,000-square-foot FedEx facility has started rising in the Schumann Business Park.

A.B. Systems of Rochester, which is building the new center, installed the bulk of the steel framing last week after spending the past couple months preparing the land and the foundations for the new distribution center.

FedEx says that the project is proceeding on schedule and is scheduled to be completed by July 2013.

The new facility will be part of a nationwide network expansion to boost daily package volume capacity and enhance the speed of the FedEx Ground network. It will operate in conjunction with a facility in La Crosse, Wis., to help serve the growing demand for FedEx Ground service in southeastern Minnesota.

While some employees are expected to transfer from La Crosse, some new ones will be hired here, although further details haven't been released yet.

Jones Development of Kansas City, Mo. is in charge of building the center and will own it. FedEx Ground will lease the site.

Jones bought 7 1/2 acres for the project from the City of Stewartville for $2.74 per square foot, or a total of $895,158.

FedEx Ground currently delivers more than 61 percent of packages in two days or less and more than 82 percent of packages in three days or less. 

It delivers an average of more than 3.5 million packages a day.  In the past year, it has seen a 5 percent increase in packages.