Baltic Crystal, a Latvia-based manufacturer and supplier of monocrystalline sapphire materials used in electronics products, has acquired a former sapphire growing facility in Washougal that will reopen next year under a new Washougal-based corporate entity, the Columbia River Economic Development Council announced on Thursday.
The company has acquired the physical assets of Sapphire Materials Company, including that company’s shuttered 53,600-square-foot sapphire growing facility at the Port of Camas-Washougal, for $3.6 million. A new Washougal-based company named B Crystal, which will operate separately from Baltic Crystal, is being formed to manage U.S. operations. The company will renovate the Sapphire Materials facility, which closed in 2014, and open its manufacturing operation in next year’s first quarter, according to a news release.
B Crystal expects to hire 14 workers initially, including two or three from Latvia, and eventually expand to 70 jobs with a facility expansion. The company says it will spend $15 million on that expansion but has set no timeline for that work.
Industrial synthetic sapphire products can be used in such products as LED lighting and protective coatings as well as in the semiconductor industry. The U.S. market for sapphire products is growing, especially in the electronic and defense industries, and the Washougal site offers good access to technology industry clusters in Washington state, said Andrey Mikhaylov, president of B Crystal.
Clark County specifically was chosen largely due to the suitability of the existing SMC manufacturing facility and the access to low-cost power, which is the largest part of the total industrial sapphire manufacturing cost.
“There has historically been a strong crystal-growing industry here in Clark County,” Mikhaylov said. “We intend to help revive it.”
Mikhaylov said the company would be seeking highly skilled workers with scientific knowledge and that it chose Washougal in part because of the availbility of a highly skilled workforce. The company will seek employees with backgrounds in physical or material science and says it will pay “more than the average salary in the industry.”
Clark County’s low electric power rates also were attractive to the company, allowing it to be competitive on the world market, Mikhaylov added. The Columbia River Economic Development Council noted in a news release that the national average industrial electric rates is 56 percent higher than Clark County’s rates, based on the most recent U.S. Energy Information Administration data.
“Relative to many other domestic and international markets, the low cost of power in Southwest Washington is a huge competitive advantage for businesses, particularly those who are high energy consumers,” said Mike Bomar, the CREDC’s president.
The Sapphire Materials Company facility is located in the Columbia Manufacturing & Technology Center within the Port of Camas-Washougal Industrial Park. Sapphire, a subsidiary of Silicon Chemical Corp., began production in Washougal 2011. The company halted crystal growth at the site in 2013 but continued fabrication of some parts into 2014 before closing all operations. Under the deal, it has sold all of its assets, but not the company itself, to Baltic Crystal.
Editor’s note: This comparison of Clark County’s electric rates in comparison to the national average was corrected in this story.
