Tech test lab near Longmont ramps up

LONGMONT – A mechanical and environmental testing lab is coming to the Longmont area and looking to take over a fertile but underserved market.

Cascade Technical Sciences Inc., which is based in Hillsboro, Oregon, is opening a testing facility at 1530 Vista View Drive in the Vista View Commercial Center, located east of Longmont in Weld County. The company, which will do business as Cascade Tek Front Range, will perform mechanical and environmental tests for clients.

Cascade Tek took possession of the building this week and plans to open by the end of March or early April, vice president of operations Terry Candlish said. Cascade Tek is equipping the 15,525-square-foot space with about $1 million worth of equipment.

The lab will employ four or five people when it opens, but the staff could grow to as many as 15 people. The employees will be hired locally, Candlish said.

Candlish expects business to be brisk. The area has been without a major mechanical and environmental testing lab since Oracle Corp. closed the Advanced Product Testing lab to outside companies in 2010. The Redwood Shores, California-based software company acquired the testing lab when it bought Sun Microsystems Inc.

“Oracle was really the only game in town. They cut a lot of companies off that were left with nowhere else to turn,” Candlish said.

Cascade Tek already has hired staff from APT to try to retain former customers, Candlish said.

Cascade Tek also has formed a partnership with EMC Integrity Inc., an electromagnetic compatibility lab located at 1736 Vista View Drive. The labs are located a few hundred yards apart.

“It’s going to be very convenient for us to share customers with each other,´ said Vince Greb, EMC Integrity’s president.

Tim Conarro, Audrey Berne and Miles King of the Colorado Group represented the landlord. Ken Kanemoto of Prudential Rocky Mountain represented Cascade Tek.

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