On Friday, I had the privilege to attend a ceremony at Germanow-Simon Corp. to celebrate the completion of a $3.25 million upgrade to the company's facilities located at 408 St. Paul Street. Germanow-Simon Corp. consists of two operating companies: GS Plastics Optics and Tel-Tru Manufacturing Co., and is one of the area's oldest continually operating manufacturing businesses. It was founded 96 years ago by members of the Germanow and Simon families. It currently employs 93 people, and when the project began 18 months ago, it employed 77 people.