UPDATED: Ecolab Building New Training Center in Eagan

Ecolab Inc. is building a new, 51,000-square-foot training facility at its Schuman campus in Eagan, the business announced on Tuesday morning.

The $10 million facility, named "Building H", will likely be complete by April, according to Ecolab Communications Director Roman Blahoski. No additional jobs will be added as a result of the expansion, Blahoski said.

Much of the new facility will be dedicated training space for the company's Institutional Division, which provides cleaning and sanitation products, programs and services to customers in the food service, hospitality and healthcare industries. The facility also will provide additional space for research facilities expansion, according to a press release issued by Ecolab on Tuesday.

The Institutional training center, located at 655 Lone Oak Dr.,  will include wet labs and classrooms as well as a conference room and offices for training staff, the press release said.

"Right now our training takes place in our corporate office in downtown St. Paul, and we felt it was time to develop a truly dedicated space for this and make sure that we have the room that we need to train and retrain our field team," Blahoski said.

"Construction of this facility reflects our commitment to employee training and our commitment to research and development, both vital components for the continued growth of our company," Dr. Larry Berger, Ecolab's executive vice president and chief technical officer, wrote in the release. "The additional R&D space this facility will provide will advance the continued development of new and innovative customer solutions."

Ecolab, which merged with Naperville, Ill.-based Nalco late last year, and now employs more than 40,000 employees. The expansion took the company from $6 billion in annual sales to roughly $11 billion in annual sales, Blahoski said.

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