Cirrus Aircraft wants to grow its southwest Grand Forks manufacturing plant again. KNOX reported that on Monday, Nov. 9, the Grand Forks City Council preliminarily approved a five-year, 100% business property tax incentive for a second expansion phase: a 50,000-square-foot addition with 13 new staff members.
The vote came less than three months after Cirrus opened the first phase. According to State Aviation Journal, the company held a ribbon cutting for that 30,000-square-foot addition on Friday, Aug. 14.
The Details
- What: Phase 2 of Cirrus' Grand Forks expansion. KNOX reports it as a 50,000-square-foot addition with 13 new staff members.
- The incentive: A five-year, 100% business property tax incentive. It passed 6-1, with Councilwoman Rebecca Osowski voting no because of Cirrus' ties to China, KNOX reported.
- Status: The approval is preliminary. KNOX's report does not give a construction start date, a cost, or a date for the council's final vote.
- Where: Cirrus' existing plant in southwest Grand Forks, per the Grand Forks Herald.
The Backstory
Cirrus has been in Grand Forks since 1997, the Herald reported in June 2025. It started in a building put up as part of a city industrial development, and it later bought that building. The plant makes composite parts for Cirrus aircraft and employs about 500 people, State Aviation Journal reported in August. The Herald reported in June 2025 that Cirrus is among the city's biggest employers, with a workforce similar to J.R. Simplot's and LM Wind Power/GE Vernova's.
The first phase was a $13 million, 30,000-square-foot addition to what the Herald described as a 170,000-square-foot plant. At the August opening, CEO Zean Nielsen said in remarks published by State Aviation Journal that Grand Forks will also make composites for the company's new TRAC10 training aircraft.
More growth was already planned in 2025. When the company broke ground in June 2025, the Herald reported plans for another 60,000 to 90,000 square feet within five years. Steve Thomas, executive director of the Grand Forks plant, told the paper then: "The next phase, we're looking at about 50 people over the next five years."
What It Means for Grand Forks
Jobs: KNOX reports Phase 2 would add 13 staff members at a plant that, per State Aviation Journal, already employs about 500.
Taxes: For comparison, for Phase 1 the city, Grand Forks County and the Grand Forks School District agreed to a 10-year, 100% payment in lieu of taxes, the Herald reported. Cirrus would keep paying about $213,000 a year on the plant's earlier value. An estimated $130,000 a year from the higher value would go uncollected by Grand Forks taxing entities through 2035.
The Phase 2 incentive is shorter, at five years. KNOX's report did not include an estimate of the tax revenue it would forgo.
Before You Go
- Council agendas, meeting materials and the schedule for final action are posted at grandforksgov.com. Check there before a meeting rather than relying on a date reported secondhand.
Sources
- KNOX: Grand Forks City Council made several preliminary approvals Monday: the Phase 2 incentive, its size and staffing, and the 6-1 vote
- State Aviation Journal: Cirrus expands Grand Forks manufacturing facility: the August opening, about 500 employees, and the TRAC10 composites
- Grand Forks Herald: Cirrus Aircraft breaks ground on Grand Forks expansion: Phase 1 cost, size and tax terms, the plant's history, and plans for the next phase
- Grand Forks Herald: Grand Forks County approves tax exemption for Cirrus Aircraft expansion: the county's 2025 vote on the Phase 1 exemption
