Minnesota-based Tru Shrimp Company took another step this week towards creating a splash in the US shrimp market. Chairman Brian Knochenmus says the opening of a new 12-thousand square foot indoor reef facility in Balaton was about 10 years in the making.

Knochenmus, a Balaton native, says the facility will serve as the shrimp farming company’s training and innovation headquarters and will go into operation in September. The company is also planning on breaking ground on a larger facility near Luverne in the spring that would be capable of producing over seven million pounds of shrimp per year.