News Release from: City of Beaverton
VANGUARD EMS COMMITS TO $1.9 MILLION ENTERPRISE ZONE INVESTMENT, RELOCATES TO VACANT BUILDING
Posted: April 26th, 2013 9:49 AM
Just eight months after the state of Oregon approved Beaverton's request for an Enterprise Zone, the city has approved its second application. Vanguard EMS has committed to an estimated $1.9 million dollar investment in the Beaverton Enterprise Zone (BEZ). Vanguard recently acquired a 76,000-square-foot building at 3725 SW Hocken Avenue, which has sat vacant for three years. The company plans to relocate from their current location on Sunshine Court.
"We are delighted to stay in Beaverton. Our new facility is located close to light-rail for our employees and has the power and space to accommodate our customers' growth plans," said Floyd Sutz, CEO, Vanguard EMS.
The BEZ is a tool within designated areas of the city that encourages eligible businesses to make additional investments to add jobs, spur economic growth and diversify business activity. Eligible businesses locating or expanding in the BEZ can receive an exemption from property taxes for three and up to five years for qualifying property. Through the BEZ investment, Vanguard plans to expand into the new facility and increase existing employment by 10 percent for five years. As a result, 15 new jobs will be created.
"Vanguard is an important Beaverton business and we're happy to have retained them," said Mayor Denny Doyle. "The family-wage jobs are vital to our economy and we're excited to put this long-vacant building back into use."
Vanguard is an electronic manufacturing services (EMS) supplier for companies in medical, defense, industrial, and the test and measurement markets. The company was founded in 1988 and currently has 144 employees.
The state accepted the city's request for an Enterprise Zone in July 2012, followed by boundary expansions in September 2012 and March 2013. The first BEZ application was approved in October 2012 with a $2.8 million investment by Vernier Software & Technology, LLC.
According to Business Oregon, a study conducted in 2010 concluded that at least 7,000 new jobs were generated in 59 of Oregon's enterprise zones over a six year period.
The City of Beaverton's Economic Development Division oversees the BEZ program and works directly with businesses to apply. For more information, please visit www.BeavertonOregon.gov/Ezone.
In 2013, Beaverton was again recognized as the safest city in Oregon. Since 2007, Beaverton has been named one of the safest cities in the Northwest. In 2012, the city was awarded the Mayors' Climate Protection Award from the U.S. Conference of Mayors. It was one of just four cities of its size recently recognized as a "Smarter City" energy leader by the Natural Resources Defense Council and one of the 100 Best Places to Live in America by Money magazine. In addition, Beaverton was named one of the best places to raise kids by BusinessWeek magazine, an All-America City finalist, as one of the top 25 Suburbs for Retirement by Forbes.com, one of the 100 Best Walking Cities in America by Prevention magazine, the Recycler of the Year from the Association of Oregon Recyclers, a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation, a Bronze Award Bicycle Friendly Community designation by the League of American Bicyclists and as one of the Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Communit
ies, the Beaverton Community Vision program was named Public Involvement Project of the Year--Best Planning Project by the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) Cascade Chapter. Beaverton also enjoys one of the most diverse populations in Oregon. For more information, please visit www.BeavertonOregon.gov or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CityofBeaverton.
# # #
Replies to this message do not go back to the sender.
Go to http://FlashAlert.net/login.html to change or delete these messages.
