The Excellence Behind the Engineering: CRL’s Team

Since 1945, Central Research Laboratories (CRL) has been an integral part of Red Wing, Minnesota’s manufacturing landscape. While our commitment to engineering excellence has remained constant, it’s the people behind our products who truly drive our success.

As we reflect on 80 years in operation, we want to share some behind-the-scenes insight into CRL from the people who help us deliver excellence every day.

Deep Roots in the Community

One of our core values as a company is to serve as stewards in our community, and a big part of that is our relationship to our hometown.

CRL has been operating out of Red Wing, Minnesota, for our entire 80-year history, and we can’t imagine a better place to have put down roots. Many of our team members were born and raised nearby, including Landon Williams, a Machinist who joined in 2020.

“Having grown up around Red Wing, I always thought of CRL as this mysterious ‘Robot-Arm’ company,” Landon shares. “Everyone knows Red Wing because of the boots, but being in a full industrial park with the boot company, 3M, and several other fantastic manufacturing facilities has really led to building this area into what it is today. There has been a lot of talk of making things in America again—we’ve never left.”

Ryan Gosse, Assembly Technicians, shares his appreciation for Red Wing and all CRL does to support the city. “Red Wing has a big tradition of companies with strong community connection and I saw this while working for Red Wing Shoes. I was quite pleased to see that continue once I made the move to CRL. Things like participation in local events like parades to using local businesses when providing lunch to employees; the efforts are visible and appreciated. I’ve also appreciated seeing local high school kids visiting the facility and getting the chance to see if this field or a similar one would be a good choice for their future,” says Ryan.

Tyler Antonsen, Manufacturing Engineer, also appreciates the chance to inspire the next generation of engineers. “I had to opportunity to host a few Red Wing High School Interns as a part of Red Wing’s “Learn and Earn” Program. I met some of Red Wing’s finest young minds and was able to help foster a better understanding of manufacturing and teach some basic engineering principles,” he explains.

All this community connection extends to how we do business. Jim Peterson, our Global Business Development Manager, says, “I think it says a lot about a community that it can support a business like CRL for 80 years. Many of our employees grew up in town and chose to raise their families here. The fact that Red Wing is a place people want to stay in really helps us with continuity and stability.”

A Culture of Collaboration

We’re a small company, but we have a big impact. Our solutions are used in some of the most critical applications worldwide, from developing life-saving biopharmaceuticals to protecting nuclear researchers from radiation.

Achieving this kind of success takes teamwork, which is why collaboration is a big part of our culture.

Ryan Gosse, Assembly Technician, puts it this way: “My favorite thing about working here is the sense of teamwork and cooperation, the feelings of accomplishment when hitting tight deadlines after challenges, and the sheer variety of tasks that I do here. There’s never a dull day and everyone is ready and willing to help one another.”

This sentiment is echoed by Melinda Harkins, who joined as Materials Manager just three months ago. She says, “The culture at CRL is what I most enjoy.  I’m passionate about all things supply chain but for me the workplace culture is just as important. I enjoy the collaborative nature CRL promotes and how everyone steps in to help even if it is outside of their roles.”

Jim Peterson adds, “My favorite part of working here is the people I work with. I am blessed to be able to work with folks throughout the organization. In bigger companies, you might only interact with people in your department or silo. At CRL, the whole organization has to pull together, or we would pull apart!”

Longtime team member Leslie Morley, our Customer Quality Compliance Specialist who has been with us for 13 years, also praises her coworkers as a big reason she loves her job. She describes them as “hard-working people that do their jobs with focus and expertise. Then, at the end of the week, we go home knowing that we did a good job.”

Embracing Challenges and Growth

Our specialized products require precision, expertise, and a willingness to tackle complex challenges—qualities our team embodies daily.

Tyler Antonsen finds this aspect particularly rewarding: “The opportunity to work on such an exclusive product is always fascinating. In a business built from the ground up by some amazing Machinists and Engineers, it’s always fun uncovering the creative ways they found to conquer complex problems.”

Landon Williams appreciates the challenges his role brings him. “I had several years of CNC mill experience before coming here but I realized how basic that work had been when faced with the intricacies of CRL’s parts and products. That kind of challenge was exactly what I was looking for,” he says.

“I’m a jack of all trades type person and want to learn how to do everything. There is always another challenge here, and once I’ve mastered a particular machine, process, or product, our management is more than willing to bring us up to the next level and attack the next challenge.”

Times Change, But Our Values Stay the Same

Through leadership transitions, ownership changes, and even a global pandemic, CRL has evolved while maintaining our core values. Leslie Morley reflects, “Of course, leadership styles come and go, but the constant at CRL is our legacy product line and our ability to work together with our specialty clients. That seems to be the glue that sticks everything together.”

Jim Peterson shares, “We’ve grown a lot in my time at CRL. We are over twice as big as we were when I started. What hasn’t changed is the pride people take in their work. People are dogged in their determination to put our customers first.”

“It’s amazing what CRL does,” Melinda Harkins says. “From the outside the building looks unimposing, but when you get inside, the products we are making and the workmanship it takes to create them are extraordinary.”

From everyone at Central Research Laboratories, we thank our customers, community partners, and especially our team members—past and present—who have contributed to our 80-year legacy of engineering excellence in Red Wing.