By TESA CULLI

tesa.culli@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — An electronics manufacturing company announced Thursday it will be building and opening a facility in the King City.

“We are here, we are coming and we are ready to go and are very excited about it,” John Houston, president founder and CEO of Intermountain Electronics, Inc., declared. “We are very excited to move into the community.”

Intermountain Electronics has corporate headquarters in Price, Utah, and has been serving the mining and utility industry since 1985. It is a company of industry expert engineers that design and manufacture custom electrical distribution equipment for a wide variety of industries, including electric companies and factories with a focus on the mining industry.

The Mt. Vernon facility will be equipped with state-of-the-art cutting, bending, fabrication, assembly and testing equipment for switchgear and associated apparatus.

Luring and encouraging the company to choose the King City for its Midwest production facility was a group effort, with the Jefferson County Development Corporation, city of Mt. Vernon, Jefferson County, Southeastern Illinois Economic Development Authority, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Rend Lake College and others.

“The efforts put forth by this team in Illinois made it very easy to choose this area,” Houston said. “Our choice was Mt. Vernon for obvious reasons — the people who worked with us to choose our site.”

The Intermountain facility will “initially” include a 50,000 square-foot space with expansion ability located in the Rolland Lewis Industrial Park. Construction is projected to begin in August, with completion by December and ready to start manufacturing and completing orders by the first quarter of 2010. Initially, 15 to 20 people will be employed in plant operations, with expectations of “growing significantly over time.”

Houston said Thursday morning the company signed a contract with Brian Edmison for design engineering on the facility, and he has spoken with several local contractors for the construction phase of the project. Bid packets are expected to go out within the next 30 to 60 days, he projected.

“The building has been designed to start out on a limited basis with significant opportunity to expand,” Houston said. “Our plan is to expand from here.”

While staffing requirements have not been completely planned at this time, Houston said those employed will receive orientation and training in Utah or Ashland, Ky.

“We prefer to hire local people because they stay with us and they are committed to the area,” Houston said. “It helps our retention and our investment.”

According to Sam Mateer, president of SEIDA, Intermountain received bonds from the authority to help offset some of the debt service for the project. Larry Woolard of DCEO said the department was a “small part” of the team working to bring the Utah company to Mt. Vernon.

“This project is an example of many future projects coming to the area that JCDC is working on,” JCDC President Roy Schmidt said. “We’re beginning to see our hard work with JCDC pay off.”

Mayor Mary Jane Chesley said the leadership team with Intermountain were “very dedicated” and “worked hard to find a quality site for their company.”

“They got the job done, and that’s one of the most important things,” Chesley said. “It just shows what team work and partnering can do for Mt. Vernon and the area.”

JCDC Executive Director Mary Ellen Bechtel reminded those with the city and JCDC of studying the book “Boom Town” about economic development a few years ago.

“The No 1 item listed in that book to attract economic development was a can-do spirit,” Bechtel said. “Right now, I believe a can-do spirit is great, but a will-do attitude is even better.”