Optoelectronics center

APA Optics Inc. in Minneapolis has signed a final agreement with the State of South Dakota for a $7.6-million optoelectronics manufacturing center in Aberdeen, SD. The facility is expected to be used primarily to fabricate wavelength-division multiplexed modulators, components and other optoelectronic products. The agreement provides APA Optics with financial assistance in excess of $5.5 million, and the company plans to invest an additional $2 million in the first two years. All of the parties involved in the agreement have been working out the detailed final accord since a preliminary development plan was reached last year (see Lightwave, July 1995, page 6). Construction of the new facility is scheduled to begin this summer.