By Jessica Boehm | The Republic
After more than a year of anticipation, manufacturing company IRIS USA opened its nearly 450,000-square-foot western regional headquarters in Surprise and announced plans to make the Arizona facility its North American headquarters by the end of next year.
After a traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony May 3, Mayor Sharon Wolcott and IRIS USA leaders busted open a barrel of Hakutsuru Sake using wooden mallets — a Japanese building christening custom — sending a splash of the Japanese liquor into the air as the crowd chanted “IRIS, IRIS, IRIS.”