A major expansion of the Okotoks ATCO Gas operations is expected to bring jobs and faster service for foothills residents.
The company broke ground on a new 14,000-square-foot facility on May 1 next to Seaman Stadium.
The new facility is being built to service the growing foothills region.
“It’s to position us closer to the work and changing work loads and activities,” said Bill Stephens, ATCO Gas senior vice president and general manager.
The building is expected to open in spring 2013. It will replace an existing 3,000-square-foot building on North Railway Street. The new facility will cover a range of activities from customer service and field staff responsible for construction activities, such as building and maintaining pipelines.
Once complete the building will have 37 employees.
The company currently employs seven employees working in Okotoks. Thirty positions will be transferred from throughout the Calgary region to Okotoks.
Stephens said some employees already live in Okotoks and he expects some may move to town.
The building also includes provisions for a future natural gas refueling station.
The company has 250 vehicles fueled by natural gas. Stephens said it’s not yet known if it will just be for the company’s fleet or if it will be open to others.
“We would be focused on providing it on our site for ourselves, but we do have facilities elsewhere in the province where it’s used by both ourselves and external fleets,” he said.
The new facility will include several green components, including a micro-generation system that will generate 25 kilowatts of electricity, most of which will be used on site. The building will make use of waste heat from the generating process to off-set heating costs for the facility.
“We’ll really see some increased efficiencies by employing that sort of technology,” said Stephens.
It’s estimated the technology will result in a reduction of 15 to 30 tones of greenhouse gas emissions.
The ATCO ground breaking also marks a significant milestone for the Town’s expansion of the Okotoks Business Park.
At 3.31 acres in size, the ATCO site is one of the larger lots in the new phase of the Okotoks Business Park.
Shane Olson, Okotoks economic development team leader, said it could also help the Town attract interest to the expanded business park from other businesses.
“We see this as a key tool to attract more industrial development of a like nature to the industrial corridor and it will set a tone for architectural design, especially for those lots that have exposure on to 32nd Street,” he said.
The new staff being relocated from Calgary to work at the building is a big boost to employment in Okotoks, Olson said.
