Iron Rangers are courting 'green chemistry' plant

Matt Sjoberg is courting Atul Thakrar's business.

Sjoberg, veteran director of business development for the Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board (IRRB), last week was pitching an Iron Range location for a third plant that likely will be announced later this year by the CEO of Segetis.

Golden Valley-based Segetis, which raised $25 million in a fourth round of venture capital last year, is a growing "green chemistry" company that develops and manufacturers plant-based resins that replace petroleum used in commercial cleaning solutions, plastics and synthetics.

Thakrar, the four-year CEO who arrived at Segetis after 25 years mostly in the chemical industry, said during a brief conversation last week that he needs to add more production space on top of the company's 40-person Golden Valley operations center and pilot plant, and a plant in western Wisconsin. The orders are coming and Segetis expects to announce a decision by year-end.

Sjoberg was waving the northeastern Minnesota flag at a conference on public-private partnerships at the University of St. Thomas sponsored by the Collaborative, a nonprofit that brings together financiers, dealmakers and growing companies. Sjoberg and Thakrar huddled during a conference break. Segetis is being pursued by a number of localities in several states and Canada.

Gary Halleen, CEO of API Outsourcing, and Bob Menne, president of Premier Plastics, which operate plants on the Range, praised their northeastern Minnesota workforces and the IRRB, a regional economic development agency charged with diversifying the Range economy using funds from a taconite production tax.

The Event Group, a Minnesota-based event management and marketing firm, has acquired the fast-growing Robotics Alley Conference (www.roboticsalley.org).

The conference was founded by ReconRobotics, maker of small "throwbots" for use by police and military, and the Minnesota High Tech Association, which will continue to be involved. Borene will move from management to chair the advisory board.

The inaugural Robotics Alley Conference involved 200 people meeting for an afternoon in 2011. The two-day event coming Nov. 12-13 at St. Paul's RiverCentre already has signed up 500 industry and academic attendees. The agenda includes a "STEM Showcase" to highlight regional science, technology, engineering and math student achievement, as well as a slew of experts in law, government, international trade and unmanned systems talking about everything from international trade to policy and ethical considerations in surveillance systems.

"From farming to mining, food production to manufacturing, hazardous cleaning to border security, the potential for robotic solutions is broad," said Adam Marsh, director of research and development at Shoreview-based PaR Systems. "Robotics Alley is a conduit for growth, collaboration and communication of these opportunities … for the Midwest."

July has been a transition month for two divisions of travel and hospitality giant Carlson.

The Minnetonka-based company's Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group announced the appointment of Rachel Marrett as senior vice president for customer engagement. Marrett is best known in the Twin Cities as the first and only female president of the Campbell Mithun advertising agency. But her pedigree goes back to Carlson, where she had a marketing leadership role from 1991 to 2001.

DAVID PHELPS

• It's In The Bag, the successful plastic bag and film recycling program operated by the Minnesota Waste Wise Foundation, has been turned over to the Recycling Association of Minnesota. The 10-year-old initiative, which provides plastic-recycling containers at retailers, is a job-producing enterprise at the intersection of waste reduction, environment and industry. Work crews from vocational centers collect and transport the plastic material to a processing facility where workers sort, bale and ship the material to Trex Co. It is feedstock for composite lumber used to construct decks and railings. Nearly 500,000 pounds of plastic was collected last year. Maggie Mattacola, director of the Recycling Association, said the program will be expanded and complements existing programs that target beverage containers and holiday lights.

• The White Bear Yacht Club has completed a $3.2 million renovation, the largest in its 124-year history, including two new swimming pools, a complete shoreline-restoration project and a state-of-the-art water quality management system.