Construction on the 175,000 square foot facility, which will be built about 60 miles east of Portland, began in August. Manufacturing is expected to begin in 2005. The plant will initially employ about 75 workers.
Cardinal was able to obtain two incentives before deciding on Hood River for the project. The company received an expansion of an existing enterprise zone, which will allow it to qualify for a minimum three-year reduction in property taxes, as well as a land-use exemption to allow for sewer extension to the site.
Last year, officials from Hood River County, the city of Hood River and the Port of Hood River began negotiations with the neighboring city of Cascade Locks for inclusion in its designated enterprise zone. After Cascade Locks city officials agreed to the change, a local project team worked with the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department to change the boundaries.
Cardinal considered several locations for site, but decided ultimately on a 10-acre former mill site in Hood River because it is situated 700 feet above sea level, an elevation necessary to prevent breakage during shipping over mountain passes.
The Hood River facility will be Cardinal’s second in the Pacific Northwest. The company manufactures coated glass in a facility in Tumwater, Wash. The Eden Prairie, Minn.,-based company has more than 4,000 employees located in 18 manufacturing facilities and two research and development centers.
Oregon's economy is going through very tough times — the worst in two decades, said Gov. Theodore R. Kulongoski. The unemployment rate in June was 8.3 percent, compared with 6.4 percent nationally. Yet, the state is determined not to grow the economy at the expense of the environment. The state is targeting green technologies and companies that minimize reliance on diminishing resources. A recent announcement exemplifies this attitude.
Treasure Valley Renewable Resources (TVRR) will build a of $77 million biorefinery plant south of Ontario. The sustainable facility will create 60 jobs for Malheur County.
TVRR board of directors said support from the state government was instrumental in the decision to site the project in Malheur County. The company considered other sites in Oregon, as well as in Idaho.
The biorefinery plant will use barley, wheat, corn and milo as feedstock. Crops will be purchased from local producers in a six-county area, including five counties in Idaho and Malheur County in Oregon.
The plant will produce food-grade starch and fiber, as well as protein concentrate for human food and aquaculture industries. It will also capture CO2 for the production and commercial sale of ethanol. A wet-spent grain, a byproduct of the facility, will be used as livestock feed.
“Oregon is a great fit for us,” said John Hamilton, project manager of TVRR. “Not only is this the perfect location for our plant, it will also give a boost to local agriculture by providing another market for their products.”
Oregon is attempting to attract and retain high-tech companies, as well.
Lighthouse Worldwide Solutions, a producer of particle counting machines used in contamination monitoring systems, is moving its manufacturing operations to Medford, Ore., creating up 100 new jobs during the next two years and contributing more than $11 million to the local economy.
Lighthouse designs, installs and maintains particle counters for customers around the world, including Fujitsu, Hewlett Packard, Hitachi and IBM. The Medford facility will provide worldwide technical support and training, and manage call centers and tech support centers in Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia and the Philippines.
The company selected Medford after considering sites in Montana, Nevada and Arizona. Transportation and a trained work force were important criteria in the selection of Medford.
“We wanted to make sure we could move both product and people,” said Adam Giandomenico, president of the Milpitas, Calif.,-based company. “There is also a large pool of highly skilled manufacturing workers in the [region].”
Meanwhile, Hynix Semiconductor Manufacturing America (HSMA), the U.S. subsidiary of Hynix Semiconductor Inc. of South Korea, will undertake a $100 million upgrade in its Eugene, Ore., facility. HSMA employs more than 850 workers at the facility, along with 170 contract workers.
The upgrade will result in a production increase of more than 50 percent on "PrimeChip" technology, according to the company. Hynix expects the new product will primarily serve U.S. customers for use in high-end applications, especially in the server market.
Hynix, one of the largest private sector employers in the state, has already invested more than $1.6 billion in the Eugene facility, which manufactures 256 SDRAM and DDR semiconductors. These semiconductors are used in a variety of products.
Ken Krizner, Managing Editor
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