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The City of Duluth and Cirrus Aircraft Close on Incubator Building

[Duluth, MN] Cirrus Aircraft is continuing its expansion by purchasing the previously city-owned Incubator Building (also known as the Customer Building) from the City of Duluth.

The 79,000-square-foot Incubator Building was a City project aimed at supporting advanced aircraft manufacturing, which met its goal of creating higher-wage employment opportunities. It was built through a $3.45M grant partnership with the U.S. Economic Development Administration in 2002. As a result, the grant award supported the creation of 233 permanent jobs at the new facility through the long-term tenant Cirrus Aircraft, who purchased the building in July. The original project cost for construction was $5,751,000, which included a local match from the City. Cirrus Aircraft invested substantially by adding advanced equipment for design and development and consistently improved the building prior to the purchase of the building.

“Cirrus Aircraft is a major force in our economy, and I am eager to see what they can do to advance aviation through this expansion,” said Duluth Mayor Emily Larson. “The confidence of Cirrus to invest here is a signal of the abundant opportunity we offer as a City and region, and gets us one step closer to meeting my vision of being the best possible place to do business in the State of Minnesota.”

“We are proud that the long-term investments made into the aircraft industry locally in Duluth are continuing to pay off,” said Chief Administrative Officer Noah Schuchman. “The late Director of Planning and Economic Development Chris Fleege committed time and effort into working with Cirrus Aircraft to see a mutually beneficial sale of the incubator building to Cirrus Aircraft for their continued growth and expansion. We are grateful for their ongoing investments in Duluth, and grateful that Chris’ legacy lives on in these important economic development successes.”

“The purchase of the incubator building will allow us to expand production and meet the growing demands of our customers,” said Zean Nielsen, Chief Executive Officer of Cirrus Aircraft.

Cirrus Aircraft is the recognized global leader in personal aviation and the maker of the best-selling SR Series piston aircraft and the Vision Jet. The company has seven locations in the United States and is headquartered in Duluth. The project and investment by EDA, the City of Duluth, and the State of MN has been an outstanding success for Duluth as well as the broader northeastern Minnesota region. With the incubator space, Cirrus Aircraft has expanded and now employs over 1,300 employees on their Duluth campus alone.

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