Chuck Kummeth is the first to admit he’s an engineer by training, not a biochemist or microbiologist. But when the 25-year employee of 3M saw an opportunity to take an established biotechnology company into the future — especially one with the stock symbol “TECH” — he jumped at the chance.

Kummeth, who has been chief executive officer of Minneapolis-based Bio-Techne for almost seven years, has tripled the company “in size, people, everything” over that time, he said Friday. “We’ve got 15 acquisitions.”

His next venture may be his most ambitious yet: a $40 million to $50 million expansion into the city of St. Paul.

Bio-Techne, which produces lab proteins for clinical trials and other materials needed in cell and gene therapies, recently purchased the old Molex copper plant at 22 Empire Drive, not far from the Minnesota State Capitol building, for roughly $3 million.

The intention is to outfit it over the next year into a factory that produces GMP — “good manufacturing practices” — proteins for cancer and neuroscience research.

A year from now, the factory will employ roughly 20 microbiologists and other intellectual professionals, said Kummeth. In the next five years, he expects that number to exceed 100.

For St. Paul — and the east metro in general — which is better known for product and medical device manufacturing, that’s a departure.

“It doesn’t get more technical than this in life sciences, and it will be right in St. Paul’s backyard,” Kummeth said. “There’s a lot of med-device in this town, but not a lot of pharma-type stuff, not a lot of biotech.”

Bio-Techne employs some 2,300 employees worldwide, including 800 in Minnesota.