Janicki Industries considers Twin Falls and Jerome for $800M expansion

A major aerospace company may soon be preparing for a smooth landing in the Magic Valley region of the Gem State.

Janicki Industries, a privately owned, Washington-based supplier of aerospace materials to industry leaders including Boeing and Airbus, has narrowed its list of potential sites for a new, large-scale manufacturing campus to either the Twin Falls and Jerome area of Idaho, or neighboring Great Falls, Montana.

“There are so many variables to choosing the right city for this type of expansion,” said Nick Lavacca, community relations and educational outreach manager for the company.

“We initially picked more than 20 cities overall and they were amazing. But it was about narrowing the list down to these two.”

In Idaho, two essentially equals one, with roughly 10 miles of the Interstate 84 corridor separating the neighboring south-central communities.

“We are very excited to have both Jerome and Twin Falls represented in the finals for this project,” said Jan Rogers, executive director of the Southern Idaho Economic Development Organization.

“Our region has experienced steady growth and expansion in our core industries of food processing and agricultural research over the past several years. Bringing Janicki to the area would introduce a new industry sector, creating additional opportunities and further diversifying and strengthening our regional economy.”

With locations in Washington and Utah, Janicki is classified as a Tier 1 supplier of composite and metallic tooling, parts, prototypes and assembled structures. The firm’s manifest for future expansion calls for a new facility encompassing 2 million square feet, with the potential to create more than 1,000 manufacturing and engineering jobs over a 10-year period.

“We definitely want to be up and running within the first five years with about a thousand jobs,” Lavacca said.

According to a recent press release, Janicki’s employment numbers have essentially doubled from 900 workers in 2022, to nearly 1,900 at the end of last year.

A final decision for the company’s final landing spot is expected by the end of this month or possibly in early June.

Janicki’s humble beginnings took off more than three decades ago in Sedro-Woolley, Washington, with the firm remaining true to what Lavacca termed the same “hometown feel” that helped land the Magic Valley region on the list of finalists.

Diligence, a smalltown commitment to hard work, and what one might find in the “heart of America” all factored into the firm considering the region as a new location.

“A lot of it is a desire to grow into what the vision is for the company and to do it organically,” he said. “But a lot of it is driven by industry and customer requirements and desires. We’ve gotten really good at what we’ve done and continue to build that product out.”

In the Gem State, the two potential landing spots easily blend into one larger community, with the bridge over the Snake River Canyon the major focal point for the two cities.

“One of the things that I think makes us attractive to Janicki is that we are part of that greater metropolitan area with Twin Falls,” said Mike Williams, Jerome city administrator. “We both take a lot of people from each community who work in the other.”

Twin Falls Mayor Jason Brown echoed the sentiment and similarly touted the valley’s strategic location for such a potentially huge project.

“The Magic Valley, specifically Twin Falls, is the economic hub,” Brown said. “Our meetings were very productive, and we did showcase our hometown feel, community and the fact that we fit their dynamic, personality and culture.”

For their part, Lavacca attributes the firm’s lengthy wingspan of success to its model of private, family ownership led by brothers Peter and John Janicki, and what he called their “versatility” and “quick-decision making” abilities.

“The Janicki’s own the company. No board of directors making decisions over a long period of time,” he said. “They make the decisions that have been taking us forward.”

To house the proposed $800 million project, a future Janicki site in Idaho will require between 100 and 200 acres of land with “room to grow,” he stressed, with the property a “small cost” in relation to the building needed to house its specialized manufacturing process.

“We need to have a rather firm foundation for that, so we need to make sure we have enough land to accommodate,” Lavacca said. “As for the buildings, machinery, the overhead cranes, the mills, all of those factors exceed the cost of the property by far.

“We build large-scale parts, and because they are precision-made, they are more expensive. We don’t want a giant footprint that puts out a low-end profit margin product.”

Shawn Barigar, economic development director for Twin Falls, is convinced the city can easily accommodate Janicki’s massive land requirement for a facility of this size.

“At this time, we can’t speak about specific sites, because we are still in the selection process,” Barigar said. “But we certainly have appropriately zoned and available properties in a variety of locations in Twin Falls that could meet their needs.”

Though Jerome is considerably smaller in size and population, Williams strongly feels his city also possesses the necessary acreage to serve as a new home for the firm.

“Like all expanding communities, this becomes more challenging as you encounter more issues with neighboring properties due to the growth,” he said. “But we feel Jerome definitely has a real good solution for what they are looking for.”

A major element shared by both communities is the prominent role the College of Southern Idaho plays in the Magic Valley. The institution of higher learning is highly invested in both cities, particularly in the arena of producing future workers for an array of industry trades.

“Having CSI right there in Twin Falls is certainly a key factor,” Lavacca said. “The school is a center point that brings higher education and workforce development together.”

“One thing a lot of people may not know is Jerome is part of the taxing district for the college,” Williams said. “The school is now finishing up a new multimillion-dollar, 20,000-square-foot facility here downtown primarily focused on workforce development and training.”

For many of the current industries operating in the region, including well-known entities Chobani and Darigold, workforce development remains a vital factor to their continued success in the region.

“The college is always a key partner for us when it comes to economic development,” Barigar said. “Their ability to align current programs they offer with what we would anticipate to be Janicki’s future needs, we were able to share that information with Janicki during our visit.”

To help bolster their case in Twin Falls, Mayor Brown cited the ultra-quick effort that helped kickstart Chobani’s highly productive operation.

“As a reminder, the Chobani project from groundbreaking to operational was 326 days,” he said. “I certainly think the industries we have here in Twin Falls and the Magic Valley continue to keep us on the radar as a region nationally for companies looking to make a move. It highlights our track record of our ability to deliver.”

And while both Ada and Canyon counties remain at the forefront of growth and development in Idaho, significantly lower housing costs in the Magic Valley factored heavily into Janicki’s decision to explore the possibility of a new site beyond the Treasure Valley.

The opportunity to provide future Janicki employees a piece of the “American Dream” – home ownership, good schools – Lavacca stressed, remains a huge priority to the company.

“If property values are much lower in the entire Magic Valley area, that makes it a lot more attainable for the employees we hire within that region to actually own property,” he said. “It helps give them more ownership within the company, and it’s another reason we’ve had so much success.”

The prospects of homeownership remain a challenge for many nationwide. But having seen a lot of growth since joining the City of Jerome in 2014, Williams labeled his city of 13,000 residents, with 13,000 more spread throughout the county, as being in a “pretty good spot” compared to many other housing markets.

“With the higher paying jobs they can offer, we feel the inventory we have and the opportunity we have for future expansion will benefit those who come here,” he said.

Managing economic development for Twin Falls, Barigar also knows well the future impact of this type of project reaches far beyond the concept of corporate expansion.

“It’s a new footprint Janicki is putting down,” he said. “Meeting with them I feel their company values and goals, especially for the way they treat their employees, align very well with our organization as a city and Twin Falls as a community.”

When they do touch down, and should Janicki choose Idaho over Montana, the notion of “community” will encompass not one city, but two.

“Of course, both of us hope this project lands in our community considering the capital investment and tax impact,” Williams said. “But being in competition with other states for something like this, we’re all rooting for Idaho.”