Legacy Electronics Inc., a local maker of memory boards for computers, is moving its headquarters to South Dakota from San Clemente.
Legacy designs and produces what’s called memory modules—which are circuit boards loaded with memory chips—and other specialized circuit boards for computer makers.
The company announced in February it was set to establish new sales and administrative offices in Sioux Falls and expand its electronics manufacturing operations to the area.
It said on Wednesday it’s set to move its headquarters there. President and Chief Executive Jason Engle has already relocated there with his family.
The company’s local offices are set to be shuttered after its lease ends.
Legacy picked South Dakota for its “beneficial tax structure and availability of manufacturing sites,” according to Engle.
South Dakota’s lower energy costs were “a major factor” in the company’s decision to move.
The new site is set to have some 40,000 square feet of manufacturing space.
“This site means we can triple our manufacturing output in the near term,” Engle said. The move also “doubles our space and gives us room to grow,” he said.
The privately held company, which started in 1993, has already shifted some workers to South Dakota.
It’s hiring upwards of 50 workers there.
It hired an outside search firm to help it find a spot for new headquarters.
Washington and Colorado were in the top three.
The company, which doesn’t disclose any financial information, had about 50 workers in San Clemente.
“Ultimately, the San Clemente facility will be wound down and we will be moving the whole thing to South Dakota,” Engle said. “Doing that type of expansion in California is just not possible because of the cost structure.”
Legacy is one of a cluster of local memory module makers, including Fountain Valley’s Kingston Technology Co. and Foothill Ranch-based Viking Modular Solutions Inc., part of San Jose’s Sanmina-SCI Corp. Northern California’s Smart Modular Technologies Inc. is also a rival.
