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On The Move
Ikonics breaks ground for new campus
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5/1/2008 by Wayne Nelson |
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(Photo: illustration by LHB Inc. of the planned Ikonics expansion in Duluth’s far west Morgan Park. Inset: Ikonics CEO Bill Ulland.)
Duluth-based Ikonics Corp. (Nasdaq:IKNX) broke ground Thursday, May 1, for Phase I in its plan for a new campus in the city’s far west Morgan Park neighborhood.
The $4.5 million, 35,000 square-foot manufacturing/warehouse project is under construction on an 11-acre industrial site that’s part of the former Universal Atlas Cement Co. IKONICS acquired the land, which is part of a state-designated Job Opportunities Building Zone (JOBZ), from the Duluth Economic Development Authority.
Phase I is the imaging technology company’s first step in consolidating its operations at 4832 Grand Ave., and at leased warehouse space at other Duluth locations.
Chief executive Bill Ulland said the company has outgrown its space, and consolidating operations and JOBZ benefits make the new site ideal. The JOBZ program offers state and local tax abatements in exchange for job creation. Ulland has promised to expand the company’s work force from 75 FTEs to 100 with the expansion.
Dan McElroy, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, which administers the JOBZ program, participated in the groundbreaking ceremony. He said the Ikonics expansion meshes perfectly with the goals of the JOBZ program.
Duluth-based design firm LHB Corp. is providing engineering services for the project. Johnson Wilson Constructors, also based in Duluth, is the general contractor.
Phase I is scheduled for completion in October.
Ikonics plans to sell its current headquarters on Grand Avenue upon relocating all of its operations to the new site.
Related editorial: Time to eliminate JOBZ.
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