North Dakota's state Mill and Elevator chalked up a $6.2 million profit during its last budget year, continuing a three-year string of record earnings while producing the most flour in its history.

By month's end, the Grand Forks mill will become the largest wheat flour mill in the nation, when it begins operating a new unit that can produce 4,000 hundredweight of bakery flour daily, said Vance Taylor, the mill's general manager.

The mill now can produce 30,000 cwt of flour daily. The new unit will boost its production capacity by close to 15 percent, Taylor said.

Members of the state Industrial Commission, who listened to the mill's annual report Wednesday, said the numbers validated earlier decisions to invest millions to upgrade the mill's facilities.

Seven years ago, the commission pushed a $19 million renovation and expansion of the mill. More recently, it approved spending $5.7 million to construct the new milling unit.

"We've made significant investments over the last number of years in upgrading, and trying to stay competitive," Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson said Wednesday.

Johnson, Gov. John Hoeven and Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem make up the commission, which is the mill's board of directors. Johnson strongly backed the decision to proceed with the $19 million renovation, which predated Hoeven and Stenehjem's membership on the commission.

"The mill survived during a time when there was a big consolidation in the industry. A lot of mills went out of business," Johnson said. "It was during that time … that we stepped up and put some new investments in, to try and increase efficiencies, and I think it has paid off."

The mill's budget year ended June 30. It made $6.2 million during the 12 months, a 7.2 percent increase from the previous year's $5.81 million. The mill, which began operating in October 1922, has now set new profit highs for each of its previous three years.

It shipped a record 9.3 million hundredweight of flour, and recorded $136.3 million in sales, an increase of 7.2 percent. Most of the mill's flour comes from hard red spring wheat and is used for baked goods, but it also mills durum, a wheat variety used for pasta.

The mill's financial performance resulted in $574,000 in profit-sharing payments to its 120 employees, Taylor said. Two weeks ago, workers got a bonus check equal to 11 percent of their previous year's salary.

Taylor said the profit-sharing plan is crucial to the mill's operation.

"It does a lot to put all the employees on the same team, working toward the same goals, and it shows up in our profits," Taylor said.