July 26. The City of Kannapolis has approved an economic development incentive grant to ISE Enterprises for a 30,000 square foot facility on Biscayne Drive. The expansion project will result in 20 new full time jobs over the next three years.

Kannapolis-based ECS Enterprises and Charlotte-based International Display Systems have merged, resulting in the expansion. The company produces display fixtures as well as other plastics fabrication and CNC machining. The new facility represents a total investment of $2.75 million—$2.4 million in real estate and $350,000 in equipment.

The company will retain some operations in their current 23,500 square foot facility at 1151 Biscayne Drive in Kannapolis.

“We are very excited about expanding and remaining in Kannapolis and Cabarrus County. With our merger partner, International Display Systems, we have been working together on larger projects over the last few years and it made sense to merge. We are both family owned and operated companies and not competitors. We complement each other and this merger and expansion makes us a stronger bigger player in our field,” said Cliff Sult Jr., CEO of the new ISE Enterprises Inc.

John Stilwell, chairman and COO of ISE, said he has enjoyed working toward the merger. “It makes perfect sense for our two firms to join together. Our children all have leadership roles in the new company which ensures a succession plan in place for the longevity of our company in Cabarrus County,” he said.

Most of the new jobs are due to the merger of the companies and will be relocated from Mecklenburg. Currently, ECS Enterprises employs 35 full-time and 17 part-time workers with an average wage of $19.36 per hour for full-time employees.

The City is providing a three-year grant which totals $44,179. After this three year period, the company will pay approximately $17,325 in property taxes to the City annually. On July 18, Cabarrus County also approved incentive grants for this company expansion.