Iowa’s Creative Corridor: The Eastern Iowa Airport has been certified as the State of Iowa’s first industrial Super Park, providing the region and state an important economic development asset that can be marketed globally.
The Airport’s Super Park was one of two sites in Iowa’s Creative Corridor that Gov. Terry Branstad announced this morning during his weekly news conference at the State Capitol. The City of Marion’s Industrial Park was also designated as an Iowa’s Certified Site, providing additional development-ready land for developers.
Dee Baird, president & CEO of the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, says to have two sites in the Creative Corridor with that designation shows the sophistication of our economic development strategy in the region.
The Airport’s site features 582 acres of development-ready property that will attract attention from companies and site location consultants. Companies looking to build new facilities are searching for sites that are not only suitable for development but are also relatively “risk-free.” Iowa’s Certified Sites can fill the demand for project-ready industrial sites, making the decision to locate in Iowa an easy one.
The Airport held a news conference in an area of the newly-certified Super Park, to recognize those who have been working on the project that began 2013. The Airport, the Economic Alliance and neighboring property owners all collaborated on the state application process. The Airport hired Foth as its engineering consultant to help lead its process.
The Iowa Economic Development Authority’s certified site program, designed and implemented by the nationally-recognized site selection firm McCallum Sweeney Consulting (MSC), parallels a typical site location process. A credentialed, Iowa Certified Site has relevant site-related data and documentation accumulated and is designated as “development-ready.”
To be a Super Park, a site must meet eight criteria in all, including the ability to provide 1 million gallons of water per day and 32,500 million cubic feet of natural gas per month within nine months, immediate access to rail and a location within five miles of an interstate highway.
Airport Director Marty Lenss says the potential for development helps diversify airport revenues and could add to cargo and passenger enplanements. “When there is more economic development, it enhances the local economy with more investment and employees, which can lead to increases in our traffic,” he says. “According to a State air service study, access to a commercial airport is a top three issue in business relocation and expansion decisions. A parcel of this size with the all the access it provides sets this apart from many of our competitors.”
Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett says, “The Super Park completes the spectrum of economic development options in Cedar Rapids. From entrepreneurs and existing business support, to having 500-plus acres of land it enables us to compete for national or even global opportunities.”
Baird agrees atorvastatin 20 mg tablet. “This is a tremendous advantage for the region’s economic development toolbox,” she says. “To have 582 acres of development-ready land with convenient access to the airport, rail and Interstate 380 is going to provide us a unique opportunity that no one else in the state presently has.”
“Companies today are under even more speed-to-market pressures and this certification will provides assurance to a company that it will have a minimum development schedule on this land,” she says.
The 184-acre Marion Enterprise Center (MEC), is located on the east side of Marion. The Marion Economic Development Corporation (MEDCO) and the City of Marion also held a news conference to celebrate its certification this morning showcasing its newly-designated industrial park.
“We congratulate the City of Marion and MEDCO on its positive news today as well, and we look forward to continued collaboration in marketing all of our economic development assets to companies and site location consultants,” she said.
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