Consultants Forum Advertise
Subscribe
Close

  • Free for qualified executives and consultants to industry

  • Receive quarterly issues of Area Development Magazine and special market report and directory issues

Subscribe Now
Renew

Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Spensa Technologies Inc. Expands Its West Lafayette, Indiana, Operations Complex

05/19/2015
Spensa Technologies Inc., a precision agriculture company specializing in pest management technologies, plans to expand its operations center, in West Lafayette, Indiana. The expansion will create up to 43 new jobs by 2019.

The company will invest $681,813 to expand its existing operations based in the Purdue Research Park of West Lafayette, with funds being used to purchase IT equipment as well as additional office space to accommodate the growing team. The company currently employs 12 full-time associates in Indiana and will be hiring software developers, data analysts and hardware engineers.

“Our expansion represents our long-term commitment to our customers, our friends at Purdue Research Foundation, the city of West Lafayette and the state of Indiana,” said Johnny Park, CEO of Spensa Technologies. “As we continue to innovate our products to better serve our customers, we look forward to leveraging the talented workforce and strong business climate in Indiana to further our success.”

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Spensa Technologies up to $635,000 in conditional tax credits and up to $40,000 in training grants based on the company’s job creation plans. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives. Tippecanoe County will consider additional incentives at the request of the Greater Lafayette Commerce.

Spensa Technologies was founded in 2009 by Johnny Park, a research assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University, after receiving a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture to create automated technologies and reduce the reliance on manual labor.

OpenScout, the company’s most recent technology, is a web and mobile enabled application to identify and document insects, weeds, disease, nutrient deficiencies and general agronomic issues so growers can strategically mitigate problems before they spread.

“Since Indiana’s early history, agriculture has played a vital role in our state’s economic development,” said Victor Smith, Indiana Secretary of Commerce. “Spensa Technologies is developing technology-driven products to keep our farmlands healthy and thriving. With nearly 500,000 Hoosier jobs supported by agriculture, these solutions are imperative for not only our state, but to the communities our exports serve across the world.”

“The expansion of Spensa Technologies continues the success story of Purdue University, Purdue Research Foundation and the city of West Lafayette,” said West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis. “This valuable partnership creates results that improve the quality of life around the world.”

The firm previously received startup assistance through Purdue Foundry, an entrepreneurship and commercialization hub in Discovery Park’s Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, and was awarded a SBIR Phase 2 grant from the National Science Foundation last year.

“Spensa Technologies is one of the first companies we worked with at the Purdue Foundry and because they are based in the Purdue Research Park, we have worked with them for several years and have watched them grow,” said Greg Deason, Executive Director of the Purdue Foundry and Purdue Research Park. “Spensa has a strong leadership team and a solid product line, so I am not surprised they are now expanding in such an expeditious way.”

Exclusive Research