Articles featured in this issue of the Development Association bulletin include:

• MEMBER PROFILE: Graymont
• MEMBER PROFILE: Enbridge

MEMBER PROFILE: Graymont

Graymont’s lime plant has been a fixture on the Twin Ports waterfront since 1912. In November 2007, Graymont, a privately held Canadian company, purchased Cutler-Magner’s lime plant in Superior and its salt facility in Duluth.

The lime produced in Superior goes to customers throughout the upper Midwest and Canada where it is used by power plants to remove sulfur from flue gases. Waste water treatment plants use the lime to correct the Ph of treated effluent. And, a pulverized limestone product is used by the iron mining industry in the manufacture of taconite pellets.

Phil Marquis, manager of the lime plant, said over 900,000 tons of limestone from Michigan is brought to the plant each year by Great Lakes freighters. At Graymont’s lime plant the limestone is converted into calcium oxide (lime). Water is added to some of the lime to make calcium hydroxide (hydrated lime). These limestone products are shipped to customers via truck and rail.

Graymont recently completed construction of a new kiln at a cost of $36 million, increasing the production capacity of the plant by 50 percent. Between 8 to 10 employees were added with the addition of the new kiln, bringing total employment to 55.

Marquis said that Graymont will be making improvements to its dock wall at a cost of about $3 million and will soon expand its office space.

Graymont is a long-time member and strong supporter of the Development Association.

MEMBER PROFILE: Enbridge

Mark Willoughby, general manger of operations for Enbridge, describes the business of his company as transportation. Every day, 1.5 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products travel through the Enbridge pipeline system to refineries in the Great Lakes and mid-continent regions of the United States.

With 233 employees in the Twin Ports, Enbridge is one of the area’s largest employers. It has been part of the Superior-Duluth business community since 1949.

With increasing demand for petroleum products and increasing petroleum production, Enbridge has $12 billion in system expansion and improvements underway and an investment of double that amount in the planning stages. The firm recently completed a 42-inch pipeline that travels from Canada to west of Chicago and a 20-inch pipeline that brings lighter grade oil from Chicago to Alberta.

Enbridge has a crude oil storage facility in Superior where it stores 36 different grades of crude oil. Its pipeline system sends the different grades to refineries based on the products they will be producing at various times throughout the year. A vast majority of the gas we put in our cars as we travel about the Midwest is refined from crude oil that travels through the Enbridge pipeline system.

Enbridge sees community support as part of its corporate culture and contributes to many community projects and educational organizations. Enbridge is also active in the Development Association and sees its connections with local suppliers as important to driving a robust local economy.

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