OWATONNA, Minn. -
Owatonna's second largest employer will be expanding.
The Viracon glass plant in Owatonna produces glass that is used on some of the world's most famous buildings and skyscrapers. The plant will undergo an expansion process this April that should be completed in the late summer of 2014.
That expansion will add 100,000 square feet of floor space that will be used for more automated glass equipment and new glass coating capabilities. The expansion will close down a portion of 4th street going through their campus.
It will also provide future high skilled jobs to handle the new equipment, something the town is happy about.
Kevin Anez, Director of Marketing and Product Management at Viracon, says, "Everybody was just really really happy about it, everybody from the employees to the people in the town, as you can imagine, has a ripple effect across the town as a local economic boost."
It was not easy, Owatonna had to compete with Statesboro, Georgia where Apogee, the parent company, has another plant. The city offered a nice incentive.
"Well the biggest incentive is tax increment financing, and it will amount to about $4.35 million in tax increment financing over 9 years. Also we're applying for a state infrastructure grant in the amount of $1.4 million to help with a lot of the infrastructure costs needed for this project" says Troy Klecker, Community Development Director of Owatonna.
When the company has over 1,200 employees in a city of about 25,000, it is important. "I don't think there's anybody in town who you'll talk to that doesn't have a connection to Viracon" says Thomas Kuntz, Mayor of Owatonna.
Viracon has perfected many advanced techniques. They can take a digital picture and put it in the glass through various coating processes. So they are a leading company in glass. They are also a leader in the community. The company donated the glass used in the Owatonna hospital as well as the history center.
"We can bring high performance energy efficient windows to the commercial market" says Anez.
