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| Published August, 2004 The Mountain States The Mountain States are reporting activity in high tech, manufacturing, and distribution sectors, as well as in more traditional resource-based industries. By Mali R. Schantz-Feld INDUSTRY NEWS Colorado • DoubleClick Inc., a provider of Internet marketing products and services, is consolidating two of its data centers to Thornton, creating 271 net new jobs over the next four years. Incentives include more than $2 million in personal property tax rebates and use tax rebates from the Adams County Economic Development Council and the city of Thornton, as well as Colorado First and Existing Industry job training funds amounting to $238,000.  • EchoStar Communications, a provider of satellite-delivered digital television entertainment services, is planning a $47 million expansion of its headquarters to a site on 66 acres in Douglas County. The firm, which currently employs 4,500 people, will add 500 new jobs by 2006.• Sirenza Microdevices, an engineering and design company that produces cell phone components for public and military sectors, relocated to Broomfield after acquiring Vari-L, a Denver-based microdevices manufacturing company. The transaction is expected to create 60 new jobs at an estimated annual wage level of $45,000, while retaining 160 jobs. • In-Situ Manufacturing, a manufacturer of environmental and water quality instruments, relocated to Fort Collins and is expected to create 65 new jobs by late 2005. The relocation will accommodate quick growth, allow all employees to be in a central location, and provide close proximity to suppliers and vendors. The firm received $130,000 in local matching funds from the city of Fort Collins and the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp., among other awards. • Centennial, Colo.-based Adam Aircraft is constructing a new 30,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at the Pueblo Memorial Airport after receiving a Colorado First job-training grant, a performance-based incentive grant from the Colorado Economic Development Commission, and local matching funds from the Pueblo Economic Development Corp. The firm will also work with Pueblo Community College for training needs. The performance-based grant is contingent upon the company receiving FAA certification and the creation of 448 jobs over the next three years. • Owens-Brockway Glass Container, a subsidiary of Owens Illinois and a manufacturer of glass and plastic packaging products, is building a new 545,000-square-foot manufacturing plant that is slated to employ 150 people in rural Weld County, east of Windsor. Weld County and the city of Windsor have committed more than $1 million in local matching funds to the project. Idaho • In May, Coast-To-Coast Carports, Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of deluxe carports and other custom metal buildings for customers in the South, East, and Midwest, opened a new 10,000-square-foot assembly plant in Heyburn, 150 miles east of Boise. The plant, slated to be staffed with 15 employees in the next two years, will initially serve Idaho, Utah, Montana, and Oregon, and eventually Wyoming and Nevada. • WOW Logistics in Jerome is adding 75,000 square feet to its already existing 232,000-square-foot dry and refrigerated storage facility. Expansion should be completed and ready for inventory by August. • The J.R. Simplot Company is giving its former potato-processing facility and surrounding site in Heyburn to the neighboring city of Burley. The 276-acre site includes more than 20 buildings and more than 1.1 million square feet of industrial space valued at more than $15 million. Simplot will be one of the tenants in the resulting new Mini-Cassia Regional Industrial Park as it leases back its still-operational frozen-food distribution center there. • Through the College of Southern Idaho's advanced work-force training, Dell is training 625 employees at its technical support center in Twin Falls to serve the firm's business-to-business clients. The upgrade will result in better pay for staff, a higher level of technical training, and additional career opportunities for area workers. Montana • Rocky Mountain Power Inc. (RMP), a subsidiary of MDU Resources Group, Inc., has entered into a sales agreement with Powerex, a Vancouver-based marketer of wholesale energy products and services. Powerex will purchase electricity generated at RMP's 116-megawatt, coal-fired generation facility under construction near Hardin. The plant is anticipated to be online late in 2005. • International Malting Co., LLC is constructing a 16-million-bushel malting plant on the north side of Great Falls that will employ 34 people upon completion in June 2005. The 132,000-square-foot facility is adjacent to the NorthWestern Energy Plant, an arrangement that captures the synergies between the two companies, including the required electricity for the malting plant and heat that can be used in the malting process. The plant will ship more than 60 rail cars of malt per week to brewers and other malt customers in the Western United States and to exporters on the West Coast. The Great Falls facility is expected to have a $64 million impact on grower sales alone. • Bresnan Communications is planning a 44,000-square-foot regional operations center in southwest Billings that is expected to bring 100 new jobs to the city next year. • TeleTech Inc.'s call center in city-owned space in the Gateway West Mall in Kalispell is expected to initially provide 125 jobs, reach 250 jobs in the second year, and maintain 425 jobs each year thereafter. The city is providing TeleTech with a 100 percent rent abatement in its new location. Utah • A $2.1 million loan from the Utah Board of Business and Economic Development will help biopharmaceutical company Cephalon Inc. add 365 full-time jobs to its 135-employee Salt Lake City operations over the next five years. The firm plans a two-phase expansion to enlarge its offices and manufacturing facilities. • Burly Seal Products, a manufacturer of rubber and rubber fabric hydraulic seals, is relocating to the Utah Industrial Depot in Tooele. The firm will initially occupy 20,000 square feet with an additional 12,000 square feet in reserve for future expansion. • WorkingRx, a provider of worker's-compensation claims management for retail pharmacies nationwide, plans to add 200 new jobs to its work force by the end of the year. The company will consolidate operations centers at a new 52,000-square-foot office in the Legacy at Lake Park complex in West Valley City, which will be occupied by mid-August. • Orgill, Inc. an independent distributor of home improvement products, broke ground in March on the construction of a 520,000-square-foot distribution center in Hurricane that is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2005. The site's location in Washington County, near the city of St. George in the southwestern part of the state, was chosen for its proximity to customers in the Western United States, and the Rocky Mountain States to the east. The site has the ability to expand to approximately 750,000 square feet, enabling total employment at the center to reach 300 in the future. • Nebraska-based Lozier Corp., a manufacturer of retail store fixtures for national and international markets, is expanding its manufacturing operations in Cedar City. The Utah Board of Business and Economic Development approved an industrial assistance fund incentive, with a maximum performance-based incentive of $400,000. The firm intends to hire a minimum of 100 employees over the first year and could reach as many as 300 over the next five years. The one-story, 534,589-square-foot building on Highway 56 has direct access to Interstate 15 and an active rail spur served by Union Pacific. • Fleetguard Inc. has relocated its Western distribution center to Salt Lake City. The global specialist for diesel-powered equipment plans to initially hire 25 workers and grow its Utah work force to 50 employees. The company says that the move will enhance customer service to support the firm's rapid growth in the oil and gas, mining, marine, and rail markets in the Western states.  Wyoming• Limelight Technologies, specializing in database and application development, is shifting its corporate headquarters to Cheyenne, bringing an initial 15 jobs with the possibility for more as the firm grows. The company is expected to hire University of Wyoming graduates and interns. "There are so many bright, talented professionals to work with in Cheyenne that can support our business," said Limelight CEO John Brady in announcing the venture. • Jeld-Wen, a window and door manufacturer, is purchasing 14 acres in the Cheyenne Business Park. The company currently has 200 employees and expects to add as many as 100 within the next two years as a result of the expansion. • Wyoming's mineral resources have been the driving force behind a $27 million construction project by the Doud BTS Company in Sweetwater County that will replace an existing Halliburton installation. The project for the provider of products and services to oil and gas companies should be completed in August, creating 40 immediate jobs with the capacity to expand the operation by more than 100 jobs in the next few years. • A $5 million mushroom farm to be partially staffed by state prison inmates is scheduled for completion this summer. The 30-acre Wind River Mushroom Farm in Shoshoni is expected to be fully operational in five years. It will eventually employ 80 to 100 inmates from Riverton and produce 50,000 to 60,000 pounds of mushrooms per week to start. Markets are expected to be established in areas close to Wyoming such as Denver, Salt Lake City, and Billings because of the perishable nature of mushrooms. • Pertech Resources Inc., a transaction printing technologies company, has purchased the Riverton, Wyo., division of Axiohm-TPG. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE Colorado • The Colorado State Legislature in 2004 redirected $50 million in insurance tax credits to a new Colorado Venture Capital Program. This legislation established a Venture Capital Authority to oversee the new program, with assistance from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. The authority will convert the tax credits to cash through a competitive bidding process and then will use the cash to fund selected venture capital funds. The funds will use the cash to make investments in businesses located in Colorado as follows: 25 percent for rural businesses; 25 percent for businesses located in distressed urban communities; and 50 percent for businesses located anywhere in the state. The selected funds will make seed and early-stage capital available for qualified businesses. Idaho • New $1,000 jobs tax credit • Making permanent tax credits for broadband investment • Research and development tax credits Montana Montana's 2003 legislative session resulted in several new development bills: • HB 76 establishes certified regional development corporations (CRDCs) and treasure communities. This bill contains an appropriation of $425,000 for the creation of as many as 12 CRDCs around the state. Applications will be accepted from organizations wishing to become designated CRDCs. • HB 564 assists community economic development by providing training for existing workers and incentives for businesses to locate and expand within the state through government-assisted new-jobs training. • SB 487 revises laws related to wind energy taxation and economic development by eliminating the tax credit limitation for wind energy development and increasing the maximum amount of outstanding economic development bonds the Board of Investments may issue.  Utah • The 2004 State Legislature broadened the scope of the Industrial Assistance Fund with HB 75. The fund was created in 1991 to provide grants for the establishment, relocation, or development of industry in Utah. The 2003 legislature created the Utah Technology Industry Council (UTIC) under Senate Bill 161. The UTIC acts as a policy advisory body for the legislature on issues pertaining to the technology industry in areas of aerospace, information technology, and life sciences/ medical devices. Wyoming • The 2004 legislature provided for a sales and use tax exemption for machinery and machine tools used in manufacturing. Funds were also provided for the Business Ready Community Program. 
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