Industrial Construction Services Inc.

Over the course of the last 19 years, Industrial Construction Services Inc. (ICS) has developed a true understanding of controlled environments, whether it’s a small renovation or a major expansion, the industrial contractor is familiar with the regulations, guidelines and high standards expected in demanding climates. ICS carries and installs products specifically designed for biomedical and bio-containment laboratories, vivariums, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical, and food and beverage operations.

Meeting the Needs of Specialized Industry

For many years, it has been a “standard practice” for processors and manufacturers to hire local contractors to deliver building and remodeling needs, but in 1994, Clint Brown, president of ICS, set out to change that. Brown founded the Minnesota-based company in 1994 as a response to requests from a local business and several area food manufacturing facilities.

Processors were looking for a construction company with a strict focus on manufacturing; one that better understood the interworking of a complex industry. Brown recognized the need to provide skilled construction technicians trained in USDA, FDA, food safety, cross-contamination regulations and requirements and especially improved building materials. ICS was created to rise to this challenge.

The company offers patented Arcoplast technology, integrating components needed to design a contamination controlled facility. The product line includes, walk-on ceilings, suspended ceilings, ceiling liners, lights, air handling and microbial control systems, load bearing partition walls, doors, windows, pass through air locks, baseboards, fasteners and other accessories. Architects, engineers and food industry experts alike attest to Arcoplast’s durability, high chemical, and corrosion and contamination resistance.

ICS has grown significantly since its inception, now employing over 50 industry-trained professionals that travel throughout the U.S. and Canada. “We have a very specific niche, so we often travel for work,” explains Brown. “We continue to work for food and beverage manufacturers around the country, but we have expanded outside that market as well.”

While ICS was founded and formed with the intention of meeting specific needs of food and beverage processing facilities, the company has diversified into other processing sectors, growing alongside an ever-changing industry. Today, ICS also builds pharmaceutical clean rooms, bio-containment laboratories and other critical contamination controlled environments. The goal is to provide and maintain safe, sanitary environments for customers and end users.

High-profile Projects

From Alberta to Washington D.C., the Bronx to Sioux Falls, S.D., ICS is making an impact on the processing industry far and wide.”We have recently completed two high profile projects for the University of Alberta in Edmonton (UAE) -the Cyclotron and the Cell and Tissue Innovation Research Centre (Cell and Tissue Centre),” shares Brown.

This past summer, ICS collaborated with UAE to revolutionize medical isotope manufacturing. UAE’s brand new $28 million Cyclotron facility includes a particle accelerator that will advance health care for Albertans and Canadians by providing a reliable supply of medical isotopes for diagnostic imaging.

ICS has also partnered with UAE for the $26.2 million Cell and Tissue Centre. “The 10,000-square-foot facility is good manufacturing practice (cGMP) compliant, dedicated to the production of cells and tissues for therapeutic applications,” reveals Brown. “The facility will have one physically isolated cell processing room with an air handling system solely dedicated to isolation of neonatal porcine islets. There are five other processing rooms for human stem cell programs as well. The site is set to open in 2014.”

About 2,300 miles away in Washington D.C., ICS has also completed The District of Columbia Consolidated Forensic Laboratory (CFL). The LEED Platinum, 287,000-square-foot, $145 million building encompasses six stories, consolidating the city’s public safety forensic science and public health efforts into a single, world-class facility.

“We have also completed a clean room pharmacy -USP797- for New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City and a clean room for Perrigo Pharmaceuticals in the Bronx,” adds Brown.

While ICS has broken out of its traditional food and beverage niche for high-profile institutional medical projects, the company often reverts back to food processing plants. “Earlier this year we renovated a production area for Hot Stuff Foods in Sioux Falls, S.D.,” reveals Brown. “And in August 2013, we were awarded a 30,000-square-foot design-build renovation project for Tony Downs Foods in Madelia, Minn.”

“This project will replace the manufacturer’s existing retort operation and revolutionize a third of the existing facility,” continues Brown. “It’s a major undertaking to complete while maintaining existing production throughout construction, demolition and reconstruction.”

Major undertaking or small-scale expansion, ICS has the knowledge, products and services specifically designed to create better, safer facilities. As the controlled environments experts, Industrial Construction Services Inc. continues to grow and diversify after 19 years of industry-tested results.