SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Daktronics Inc., whose electronic scoreboards and video displays are sold worldwide, said Friday it is buying a Redwood Falls, Minn., plant to build its line of Galaxy electronic message centers.
The building is owned by Emerson Electric Co., and the deal is expected to close in early January. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
Increasing sales has prompted Daktronics to begin expanding beyond its Brookings headquarters this year. The company recently leased 140,000 square feet of space in Sioux Falls to give it room to build its digital billboards.
``One of our challenges has been finding enough new employees for our Brookings operation to meet the growing demand for our products,' Jim Morgan, Daktronics' chief executive officer, said in a release.
Daktronics officials said moving Galaxy display production to Redwood Falls will allow more capacity at its Brookings facility to be dedicated to building products for the sports markets.
ADVERTISEMENT
Daktronics plans to hire about 100 people to start the Minnesota operation. The Galaxy line, which is primarily sold to commercial customers, consists of monochrome and full-color displays designed for onsite advertising, typically in front of retail businesses.
The Galaxy displays should begin moving off the production line by March 2007.
The Emerson Electric building was used to make Artesyn Technologies power supplies for computers and telecommunications products. Daktronics expects to hire the existing management team from the Artesyn operation, as well as offer manufacturing positions to other Artesyn employees.
Shares of Daktronics were down 84 cents Friday to $35.34 in late morning trading on the Nasdaq.
------
On the Net:
Daktronics: http://www.daktronics.com/
