The Flagship Enterprise Center in Anderson has broken ground on two new facilities. The Accelerator Building will be an 80,000 square-foot business and industrial facility. Work is also underway on a laboratory, which will include a tool to measure the torque and power characteristics of automobiles.
Source: Inside INdiana Business
Press Release Anderson, Ind. – The Flagship Enterprise Center (FEC) hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday, May 13, to kick off the construction of two new facilities. The new Accelerator Building and Lab Addition are the fourth and fifth buildings added to the Flagship Enterprise Center’s campus located within the Flagship Business Park. The event occurred at the construction site for the Accelerator Building – 3619 W. 73rd Street. The Flagship Accelerator Building will be an 80,000 square foot multi-tenant business/industrial facility similar to the FEC’s existing Energy Systems Center. The facility will be LEED certified, an internationally recognized environmentally-conscious building standard, and will feature a solar wall to utilize passive solar heat. The construction of the Accelerator is made possible in large part by a $2.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce – Economic Development Administration (EDA).
Chuck Staley, President and CEO of the Flagship Enterprise Center, stated “I am very grateful to the US Department of Commerce and Secretary Gary Locke for selecting the Flagship Enterprise Center as the recipient of this EDA grant. We take very seriously our responsibility to create jobs, expand energy-related technology and contribute to the economic revitalization of our area.” Staley recognized Robert Sawyer, Director of EDA’s Chicago Regional Office and Don Kathan, Area Director of the Chicago Office, for their assistance on the Accelerator project. EDA’s Don Kathan affirmed his support of the project, saying, “The Economic Development Administration is pleased to partner with the Flagship Enterprise Center to help develop new technology and alternative energy sources that will lead to the creation of high wage, high skill jobs in central Indiana.” “I also want to recognize our partner, the City of Anderson, and in particular Mayor Kris Ockomon,” said Staley. “The City of Anderson and the Flagship have worked hard to make this a collaborative project from the beginning.” Anderson Mayor Kris Ockomon acknowledged the positive future impact the Accelerator can have on the city’s economy, stating “Anderson has been proactive about creating an environment that nurtures new business in order to build tomorrow’s strong, diverse economy. Business friendly environments don’t happen by chance, but by design.” Ockomon added, “This new facility will be one more major tool in Anderson’s economic development toolkit to attract leading edge companies.”
The second facility will be a 3,200 square foot Laboratory to be added onto the east end of the existing Flagship Enterprise Center. As a laboratory and prototyping space, the addition will house the FEC’s second full-chassis dynamometer, a tool used to measure the torque and power characteristics of automobiles. The construction of the Lab Addition was spurred on by a $475,000 contribution from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Economic Development Initiative-Special Project (EDI-SP) grant. Staley added, “Senator Richard Lugar and his staff played a vital role in securing the EDI funding for the Lab Addition.” Located at Exit 22 on I-69, the Flagship Enterprise Center is a new-business incubator and growth-stage business accelerator. The FEC is the result of a partnership between Anderson University and the City of Anderson, and has been instrumental in the launching of over 60 companies with the creation of some 1500 jobs since its inception in 2005.
For more information on the FEC, contact DeWayne Landwehr at (765) 622-0800 or visit the FEC website at www.flagshipenterprise.org. Source: Flagship Enterprise CenterGround Breaking Posters.
