Business park set

Wednesday, May 31, 2000 | 11:11 a.m.

A use permit signing today will kick off development of Desert Rock Sky Park, an industrial park near Mercury that could be home to at least four businesses and more than 70 employees within a year.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., will sign the permit allowing NTS Development Corp. to lease 450 acres from the Department of Energy and sublet it to companies interested in building just outside the Nevada Test Site perimeter.

Tim Carlson, chief executive officer of the NTS Development Corp., which is coordinating commerce at the test site, said four companies have expressed an interest in locating at the Desert Rock Sky Park 60 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

They include Nevada Carbon, a carbon filter regenerating company which would have 10 to 15 employees and could expand up to 25; Cryoline, a company that reprocesses ozone-depleting materials, which also could expand from 10 or 15 employees to 25; Fluid Tech, an environmental decontamination company, which eventually plans to have 20 employees; and Hastings' Chariot, a company that plans to launch small rockets for tests and research in zero-gravity conditions. Its staffing level hasn't been determined.

Other potential companies for the park are Kistler Aerospace, which hopes to launch communications satellites with reusable rockets by 2003 from the Test Site, and its subcontractors.