Great Plains signs 30-year lease with Supply Energetics

Supply Energetics has signed a 30-year lease for space in the 900 campus at Great Plains Industrial Park.

The company will manufacture and supply high-performance powders, specializing in nitrocellulose-based energetic materials for commercial and defense applications locally, nationally and internationally.

The Great Plains board on Thursday signed the 30-year lease with Eliot Pence, founder of Supply Energetics.

The lease includes the use of the 920 site as a staging area. Any building space rented will cost $3 per square foot in the first year plus $750 per acre leased. In year two, the building rent will increase to $4 per square foot. Each year after that, the building rent increases by 1.5% over the previous year, according to the lease agreement.

While Great Plains works with Kansas Gas Service to bring natural gas to the park, Supply Energetics is allowed to use above-ground tanks for gas.

Great Plains director Brad Reams told board members that Supply Energetics would use the west part of the 900 campus for its operations with the 904 building as its main site. Other buildings or building sites will be used as well, including the concrete slab at 920, the little paint building and the guard shack. The company will also use some igloos for storage at the park, Reams said.

Great Plains board chairman Bob Wood said the lease envisions giving the company time to scale up in the early years with a lower per-foot lease rate.

“Obviously, 30 employees is awesome. That’s what we’re looking to do out here,” Wood said. Supply Energetics eventually plans to have around 30 employees on site and is in the process of getting its federal explosives license, a requirement before it will be allowed to manufacture at the park.

Pence told the Great Plains board that his plan is to start manufacturing on site by Oct. 1. He said he has machinery en route.

See LEASE, Page 3.

Vince Gamble also attended the meeting. He is the operational manager for the company. Jeff Brothers, a consultant, also was on hand.

“The 900 line is going to get real busy real fast,” Brothers told board members.

Pence told the Sun that its production of nitrocellulose for munitions employs an innovative method using air, water and sunlight. He said this doesn’t require precursors, which are difficult to source.

Besides creating nitric acid, the company will also grow its own cellulose in the form of algae.

“That’s different because usually you just get cellulose from grass or cotton or wherever. We’re growing it,” Pence said.

“We’re trying to create containerized, modularized mini munitions factories that you can forward deploy,” he said. Rather than just having a central manufacturing location, this would create container units that could be moved to other sites.

He said customers for his products will include Day and Zimmermann, which manufactures and assembles munitions in the park, and General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems.

The jobs created would be a combination of manufacturing, lab, chemists, biologists and factory managers.

Pence said he’s worked in the defense sector for 20 years.

In other matters, the board: — Swore in two new board members, Ty Lewis and Jeff Bohnenblust.

— Reviewed the financial report showing $42,538 in net income for May and $738,219 in net income for the year to date.

— Approved a resolution relating to the park’s five-year contract for water rights from the Kansas Water Office.

— Approved a memorandum of understanding with Casa Carrera Developments to market the park.