By RAELYNN RICARTE
News staff writer

Steve Nordlund said the growth of Insitu can be traced by its profit margin — but the lives of military personnel saved by its unmanned aircraft will never be known.

“That’s the one thing you can’t go out and get data on,” he said.

Nordlund is the vice president of business development for the Bingen-based company. He estimates that three-quarters of a billion dollars is fed into Gorge communities each year by the high-tech manufacturing firm and its local suppliers.

Much of that income is derived from U.S. Navy and Marine Corps contracts for the air vehicle commonly known as the ScanEagle. The unmanned aircraft is 4½ feet long with a 10.2-foot wing span and mounted with either an electro-optic or infrared camera.

The ScanEagle flies in all weather conditions and is virtually undetectable. It can be in the air for up to 24 hours and transmit images of ground activity to infantry units and special teams in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“The beauty of the robotic equipment is that you can completely take the risk to humans out of reconnaissance,” Nordlund said.

He said Insitu has operatives in both Middle Eastern countries to maintain, launch and recover the ScanEagle. In addition, the company has assisted the Navy in rescuing tsunami victims in Indonesia — and an American ship captain captured by pirates off the coast of Somalia.

Insitu also contracts with the Canadian and Australian militaries.

Nordlund is now wearing the hat of campus special project coordinator to facilitate Insitu’s expansion plans.

He has invited private developers and public agencies in Gorge counties to submit conceptual ideas for a central campus. He said the company will have 700 employees on the payroll by the end of 2009 and will keep adding staffers as global demand for its product line increases.

He said to accommodate its growth, Insitu has operations, or has leased property in The Dalles and Hood River, as well as Stevenson, Wash.

“It’s just the right time for us to start planning a campus where we can consolidate some of our operations,” Nordlund said.

He said the company is determined to stay in the Gorge, where employees can enjoy a variety of outdoor activities.

“A lot of our supplier companies have grown up with us and we aren’t really constrained by state or county lines; to us it’s just the Gorge,” Nordlund said.

“The type of employees that we hire like to work hard and play hard so this is just the perfect place for us to be.”

He said a Request for Information was sent to interested parties from Klickitat, Wasco, Hood River and Skamania counties. He said the suggested size of a campus was 300,000 to 400,000 square feet. That translates to about 25 acres of property with a single-story structure.

However, he said a multi-level building on less property would be considered, as well as more than one facility in the same general location.

“We are really encouraging creativity so we are interested in looking at whatever is brought our way,” he said.

Nordlund has asked for conceptual plans that include four parking spaces per 1,000 square feet. Nordlund also wants to gain occupancy by the end of 2011.

He said visual, recreational and practical amenities should be factored in.

He is asking for proposals to be submitted by Aug. 14 but will allow a small grace period for plans that are still in the making. He said Boeing, which acquired Insitu last September, will be involved throughout the project.

Insitu was founded in 1994 in a small office owned by the Port of Klickitat County with a single phone line and two employees.

Nordlund said over the last five years the firm has reflected an 81 percent annual compounded rate of growth. He expects the profit margin to climb for the foreseeable future due to civilian demand for Insitu’s surveillance aircraft.

For example, he said weather can be monitored and emergency responders aided in natural disaster recovery missions.

“We personally believe the commercial market is going to be the bigger market in the long run,” Nordlund said.