Mankato News

The Power Systems division of Rolls-Royce has been selected to supply a further four of its mtu naval generator sets for the USS Congress (FFG-63), the second ship in the U.S. Navy’s Constellation Class Guided-Missile Frigate program, previously known as the FFG(X) program. Rolls-Royce has made significant investment at its production facilities in Aiken, S.C. and Mankato, Minn. to support the program and manufacture the gensets in the US.Rolls-Royce is currently supplying mtu gensets for the lead ship in the Constellation Class program…

Rolls-Royce's Power Systems division has ended the 2020 financial year with an underlying operating profit of $247.3 million despite suffering a 17% drop in underlying revenue to $3.8 billion. This corresponds to an underlying operating margin of 6.5% (2019: 11.5%). As a result, Power Systems, with its product and solutions brand mtu, remained in the black during the 2020 pandemic year.Power Systems is taking advantage of the crisis to prepare for a shift in its business model…

A Strategic Look Forward.It is my honor to serve as PVA’s President. My company, Padelford Packet Boat Co., Saint Paul, MN, has proudly, and actively, been a member of this organization since its inception almost 50 years ago when it was previously known as the National Association of Passenger Vessel Operators (NAPVO).While PVA is rich in history, it by no means is stuck in old ways. PVA is always evolving to mirror the ever-advancing world of passenger vessel operations. As the voice of the passenger vessel industry…

Gus Gaspardo, President of the Padelford Packet Boat Company, was elected Passenger Vessel Association (PVA) President for 2018 at the PVA Annual Convention at MariTrends 2018, held January 28-31 in Savannah, Ga. Gaspardo is President of Padelford Packet Boat Co. Inc., St. Paul, Minn. Founded in 1969 by Capt. William Bowell Sr., Padelford provides a wide variety of public cruises and private events on the Mississippi River with three passenger subchapter K vessels at Harriet Island Regional Park in downtown St. Paul.

During the PVA Annual Convention at MariTrends 2016 held January 23-26 in Crystal City, Va., members of the Passenger Vessel Association (PVA) elected Margo Marks of Beaver Island Boat Company, Beaver Island, Mich. as PVA President for 2016. Margo Marks is President/General Manager of Beaver Island Boat Company, Beaver Island, Mich. The company has provided passenger service, vehicle service and freight service between Beaver Island and Charlevoix, Mich. since 1984. The first ferry service to the island began in 1890.

MTU Onsite Energy Corp., a Rolls-Royce Power Systems company providing diesel and gas-based power system solutions, has announced the launch of a new youth apprentice program. The vocational training program is designed for high school juniors and seniors and will combine hands-on training in a manufacturing setting with classroom instruction. The program will begin this fall, in partnership with Mankato Area Public Schools, South Central College, Kato Cable, a full service cable assembly company, and EI Microcircuits, an electronics design and manufacturing company. The new youth apprenticeship program will launch with junior and senior-level students at Mankato East and West High Schools who have completed prerequisite coursework in welding…

Name change aligns corporate name with primary product brands MTU and MTU Onsite Energy; German holding company Tognum AG renamed Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG. Effective immediately, Tognum America Inc. has changed its name to MTU America Inc. Based in Novi, Mich., the company is responsible for the manufacture, development, sales and service of MTU engines, propulsion and drive systems and MTU Onsite Energy distributed energy systems in North and Latin America. The company also maintains manufacturing facilities in Aiken, S.C. and Mankato, Minn.

Tognum, the propulsion and energy system specialist, has honored its best suppliers for the year 2012 with the Supplier Award in five categories. Jörg Schwitalla, member of the Board of Management responsible for personnel, integrity and operations, and Erik Manning, Head of Purchasing, handed over the awards. For the first time, Tognum presented the Supplier Award to two suppliers from the U.S. The prize in the category of "Most Improved for the Year" was awarded to the American supplier Honeywell International from Torrance in California. The Tognum Group buys turbochargers from them.

MTU Detroit Diesel Inc. announced a name change to Tognum America Inc., effective June 1, 2011. Tognum America, like MTU Detroit Diesel before, is a subsidiary of the Germany-based Tognum Group and is responsible for the sales and service of MTU engines and MTU Onsite Energy distributed energy systems in North and Latin America. Tognum America has offices in Detroit, Houston, Washington DC, San Leandro, CA; St. Rose, LA; Miami, FL and Mankato, MN. The company also operates two state-of-the-art production facilities: one in Mankato, MN for diesel and gas-based generator sets and one in Aiken, SC where it currently machines parts and builds MTU Series 2000 and 4000 engines.

General Atomics signed a fixed-price contract modification for the production of the Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) and the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) for the U.S. Navy’s new CVN 78 aircraft carrier, to be named Gerald R. Ford. This action modifies the existing contract awarded in 2009 by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md. It includes a delivery incentive, based on the contract schedule of delivery of the EMALS equipment to the shipyard. “Our production efforts started last June for EMALS and in November for AAG. All long-lead materials are on order and component manufacturing is in process for a number of subsystems. We are on track for CVN 78,” said Electromagnetic Systems Division Vice President R. Scott Forney, III.

General Atomics, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $573,000,000 ceiling priced, undefinitized contract action for the production of the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) CVN 78 Shipset. EMALS is the catapult launch system on CVN-78 class aircraft carriers, replacing the steam catapults used on prior generations of aircraft carriers. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., (49 percent); Tupelo, Miss., (19 percent); Mankato, Minn., (12 percent); Waltham, Mass., (4 percent); and various locations across the United States (16 percent), and work is expected to be completed in September 2015. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 602-1.

PDI Personnel Decisions International, Minneapolis, Minn., Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer Lowell Hellervik, Ph.D., was in April 2007 appointed a Duluth Seaway Port Authority Commissioner by Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. He succeeds Thomas E. Cashman, who was appointed by Governor Jesse Ventura in February 2001. Cashman, a native of Mankato, is president of Feed Service Company, Inc., and executive vice president of the Northwest Agri-Dealers Association, both of Mankato. Hellervik began his career at PDI in 1967, was named President in 1975, and became Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer in 1989. A professional Industrial/Organizational Psychologist…