Industry News

The Montgomery County Department of Economic Development expects to break ground on the $2.5-million Silver Spring Innovation Center in summer of 2003. The free-standing 20,000-sf Silver Spring business incubator will house 12 to 15 companies. The facility will be ready for occupancy approximately six months after construction begins.

Rutgers University School of Business at Camden is working with the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology and the Delaware River Port Authority to create a non-profit business incubator in 20,000 sf of the former West Jersey Hospital in downtown Camden. The incubator is housed on the fifth floor of the five-building, 270,000-sf hospital complex. Former patient rooms were renovated to create 35 high-tech suites of 250 sf each which can be doubled to 500 sf.

Enplas Inc., a Japan-based manufacturer of plastic parts and products, plans to expand its operations with the $2.3-million purchase of a 47,000-sf office building in Georgia. The facility was previously used as a multi-tenant office/warehouse.

Intel Corp. will invest $2 billion to convert its Chandler, Ariz., manufacturing plant to the production of 300-millimeter silicon wafers. The conversion project is slated to begin in 2004 and reach completion in 2005. The plant will be Intel's fifth 300mm plant. Intel, based in Santa Clara, Calif., employs 9,000 workers in Arizona.  

CB Richard Ellis will acquire Insignia Financial Group in a $415-million transaction, creating the largest real estate services company in the world. With $1.8-billion in revenue and over 16,000 employees, the service company will have a broader gauge and provide global service at a more efficient price. CB Richard Ellis is based in Los Angeles.