Unique Tech Park Continues Steady Growth
Hoosier Energy and REMC welcome SAIC to WestGate@CraneScience Applications International Corporation(SAIC) [NYSE:SAI], a FORTUNE 500
® scientific, engineering, and technology applications company, opened a 38,000-square-foot operation on March 2009 at the state-certified high technology business park located at the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center in southern Indiana to house approximately 160 new employees.
The $4 million facility, leased by SAIC, houses the company’s Warfare Systems and Integrated Solutions Operation along with a high-power laser and optics lab, electronic warfare development and testing, and other cutting-edge technology operations. SAIC’s opening continues the rapid economic development of WestGate@Crane, Indiana’s only multi-county tech park.
Officials from Daviess, Martin and Greene counties jointly operate the 300-acre park, the only such multi-county interlocal arrangement in Indiana. WestGate@Crane serves the sprawling Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division, the U.S. Navy’s third largest defense facility, occupying 100 square miles.
Utilities District of Western Indiana (UDWI), the local REMC of Hoosier Energy, was instrumental in the development of WestGate@Crane and has supplied electrical power to the park since its inception. To accommodate SAIC, the REMC did some additional work.
“We installed BPL – Broadband over Power Line – and we also, at cost, are putting in three-phase lines. We’re putting everything underground for aesthetics,” said Brian Sparks, CEO of UDWI.
Being certified by the state, WestGate@Crane is eligible for various economic development incentives. One of the requirements to be certified is that a high technology company must be committed to be a tenant of the park.
“Since WestGate is Indiana’s only multi-county certified tech park, each of the three counties that developed the park had to have a suitable company willing to locate there,” said Gene Shaw, president of the WestGate Authority Board which runs the park.
SAIC’s new facility is the fifth building to be constructed in WestGate@Crane. Six other defense contractors have operations in the park which was state certified in 2005 – total employment at the park is now about 450.
Approximately $12.5 million in capital investment has gone into the park so far, and there are plans for construction of a $7 million training and conference center, and for other improvements. The developer, WestGate@Crane Development Co. LLC, hopes to double the size of the park in the next 2 to 3 years, and praised the on-going support of Hoosier Energy and the UDWI, as did SAIC.
“We greatly appreciate all the efforts of the many local Indiana entities including REMC for making our move into the technology park successful,” said Dave Seckinger, operations manager of the SAIC facility.