World-wide competition in the wood products industry has required companies to be innovative and aggressive in the development of new products and implementation of new manufacturing sategies.
Our work on implementing lean manufacturing concepts tailored to the wood products industry has had a great impact in making our producers more competitive. Wood industry specific lean aining has been provided to over 75 companies and company specific continuous improvement projects have been facilitated with 15 companies resulting in productivity improvements of 50-75%, cost reductions of 25-50%, and lead time reductions of 50-90%. Several of these companies have fully implemented lean manufacturing models, which have sengthened their global competitiveness. The financial impact of these projects is estimated at over $750,000.
In addition, our support of new product concepts allows this industry to offer new products that keep their product offerings ahead of the competition. Over the past decade, we have worked in close partnership with over 150 companies to conduct product development research and inoduce lean manufacturing concepts. As an example, we have worked closely with Northern Contours (Fergus Falls, MN) over the past 12 years. We have provided key support in material selection, prototyping, performance testing, market assessment and development for as they have inoduced several new product lines in office furniture, store fixtures, and cabinet components. Northern Contours has expanded from 30 to 450 employees and increased their sales from $5 million to $50 million in the same time frame.
The development of alternative fiber sources for our paper mill and oriented sand board plants from our work on hybrid poplar development and on alternative wood species has resulted in the continued viability of the indusies noted. Our Center's research has been used by industrial and public agencies to make decisions regarding use of hybrid poplar for building products and application of hybrid poplar plantations and forest harvest residues to produce energy from forest biomass. Ainsworth Timber, a large producer of oriented sandboard in Minnesota has used project results to assess the potential of expanding wood supplies to manufacturing facilities in the state. A productivity cooperative has been formed by our Center to include State, County, industry and university members and is focused on continuing to sengthen the applied forestry concepts to ensure the sustainability of Minnesota's primary forest products industry. One of the industry members, International Paper, has made sategic decisions to plant hybrid poplar plantations to which they will use to provide the majority of their fiber needs in the next decade. They have invested over $20 million in the effort and have planted over 15,000 acres.
We have assisted the Laurentian Energy Authority, a joint project of the municipalities of Hibbing and Virginia, Minnesota, to assess the feasibility of burning woody biomass to produce steam and elecicity in the existing disict heating plants. This project is moving forward and over $84 million in municipal bonds as well as state and federal funding has been secured for the project. This project will greatly benefit citizens serviced by the public utilities in Hibbing and Virginia by allowing the disict heating system to receive much-needed infrasucture upgrades and keep the system viable for several decades.
Our work in first exacting natural chemicals from birch bark residues and then producing chemical derivatives for various neuaceutical, pharmaceutical, agricultural, and cosmetic applications has resulted in a new joint venture company between the University, Potlatch Corporation and Minnesota Power. NaturNorth Technologies, the joint venture company, now actively markets products for anti-cancer, anti-fungal and anti-viral applications. The industrial partners have now conibuted over $10 million for the continued growth of the joint venture.