Incentives on table for In-Situ Inc.

FORT COLLINS — Economic-development agencies are lining up financial incentives to encourage In-Situ Inc., an environmental technology company based in Laramie, Wyo., to relocate to Fort Collins.

The Colorado Economic Development Commission recently authorized up to $130,000 in grant money, contingent upon the number of jobs In-Situ would create in Fort Collins. The company now employs 65 people, and each job is worth $2,000 in grant money.

The state has also approved a $28,000 job-training grant for the company.

Locally, the Fort Collins Downtown Development Authority has agreed to use $120,000 in tax-increment financing to pay for street and infrastructure improvements for In-Situ’s new building.

In-Situ, which makes water-analysis instruments, has unveiled preliminary plans to build a 59,300-square-foot building on the north side of the Poudre River along East Lincoln Street.

“They are going to have some relocation costs and some other costs,´ said J.J. Johnston, president and CEO of the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp., which has worked closely with In-Situ in recent months. “That’s what makes the Economic Development Commission grants so appealing. There is a lot of flexibility in how those dollars can be used, while the DDA dollars can be used for infrastructure.”

If In-Situ agrees to move to Fort Collins, it would mark the second significant economic-development coup for Northern Colorado in a short time frame. In mid-September, the bottle-manufacturing company Owens-Illinois Inc. announced it would build a $100 million plant in Windsor, which would create 150 jobs.

In-Situ has held a contract on a 4.2-acre parcel at 105 E. Lincoln Ave. since early this year.

However, the company has been shy about discussing the relocation until final approval has been achieved.

Calls by The Northern Colorado Business Report to In-Situ CEO Christopher McKee were not returned.

In-Situ recently presented its plans to a gathering of neighbors Oct. 23. The company’s project must still gain the blessing of the Fort Collins Planning and Zoning Board. A hearing date before the planning board has not been set.

About 20 percent of In-Situ’s operation is dedicated to assembly of products. The balance is used for administration and sales offices, as well as product research and development.

In-Situ’s interest in moving to Fort Collins dates back to 2000, when the company even placed help-wanted advertisements in a local daily newspaper to fill job vacancies that it expected.

The company backed off relocation plans at that time, saying it was concerned about moving costs and the fear of losing employees who didn’t want to leave Laramie.

But as In-Situ has grown, it’s acknowledged that it’s having difficulty recruiting sufficient technical talent to Laramie. A location in Fort Collins would put the company closer to a potential recruiting base in Northern Colorado and the Denver area.

Founded in 1978 with two employees, In-Situ conducts business in 70 different countries.

The company’s products are used to monitor water-quality compliance with government regulations.

According to a statement posted on the company Web site, In-Situ said it’s recently installed its instruments near the Aswan dam in Egypt, at mining operations in Latin America and at nuclear-waste disposal sites in Europe and the United States.

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