Opening the Door on New Jobs in Cheyenne County

The Cheyenne County Board of Commissioners met today, and among the business addressed was a request from Emagine Concepts, Inc for $160,000 in community development block grant funds. The request for a loan from the re-use fund was to assist the Colorado company in relocating equipment and to prepare a permanent site for operations in the Cheyenne county area. The request was conditionally approved, pending the attachment of a schedule of collateral assets to cover the loan and that 20 employees would be created within the first year of operations.

According to a press release from Sidney/Cheyenne Economic Development Partnership, the company will establish its operations initially at the Adams Industries Industrial Park, and will begin production of millwork for a contract the Colorado based company entered into with Southerland's Lumber Company. SLC maintains 70 lumber stores in 13 states in the midwest and Rocky Mountain regions. According to Emagine  Concepts CEO Erik Mellum, "...the area makes sense from a logistics point of view and I've been impressed by Sidney and the people we've met here.  I'm hoping we will have a long and mutually beneficial relationship with Sidney and its wonderful citizens."

Mellum was especially appreciative of Economic Development Director Gary Person. "Gary has just been a total delight to work with," he said.

The contract will bring 20 new jobs to Sidney over the next year. The jobs will be manufacturing oriented and involve millwork, assembly, technical and administrative staff.

According to Emagine Concepts CEO Erik Mellum, the twenty jobs to be created will be local hires and will be in addition to any personnel who transfer from the company's Colorado facility. The company utilizes CNC or computer controlled milling machines for the production of doors, cabinets and other housing related products. Mellum said that people with this kind of experience would be sought for some of these positions when operations are up and running.

Emagine Concepts has been in business more than 20 years, manufacturing Cabinets, custom stairs and solid surface finish using architectural millwork, casework and design manufacturing and installation. Initial operations will be focused on the production of the door work from the Southerland's contract.  Eventually, the business will add work into other areas, including sustainable energy efficient housing materials.

In speaking with the County Commissioners, Mellum mentioned one such product, called a Solargon. The product, similar to a yurt (an open round or octagonal covered structure) would be used to package an energy efficient structure and be deployed as part of relief efforts for areas such as Haiti. The unit would feature a solar cooking, waste disposal and lighting systems in a self contained package. "If that goes through, we're gonna have an immediate need for more space and would be bringing a manufacturing plant here," said Mellum

The plant would cost approximately 2.5 million dollars. Emagine Concepts said that a letter of intent had been signed with a financier to pay for the cost of that plant. The demand for these units based on contract talks would mean approximately forty Solargon units would be manufactured per month.

The green portion of Emagine Concepts' plan would be dependent on additional steps. According to the press release, these steps would occur, "through various public processes involving infrastructure development with the City of Sidney and carious state applications There is the potential for another Sidney business to participate in a portion of the park's development.

Commissioner McMillen asked the company about a depreciation schedule that did not appear on the profit and loss statement which accompanied the load request. The company said that they did not include a depreciation schedule due to their philosophy of aggressive maintenance. They did offer to provide one for consideration of the process, but noted that they were very lean in their operations.

Initial hiring will be done though local company Advanced Services Inc. Prospective employees may contact the company at 308-254-1090 and are located at the intersection of US 30 and Greenwood Road.