(Spencer)– The President and CEO of the Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation is promoting the importance of site-ready economic development. Shannon Landauer told the Spencer City Council earlier this week it’s important more sites be developed in the area that would be ready to go to help promote the area for companies looking to expand or move here…
“So that when companies are looking we’re not just promoting corn fields, we’re not just promoting maybe a brown field site that needs some mitigation on it. What we have seen is a lot of movement toward mega sites; a lot of movement toward owned properties that are really market ready, development ready.’
Landauer says that’s taken on renewed importance locally after updated flood plain maps placed most of the Spencer Green Industrial Park in a flood plain. Landauer said a new development on the state level, however, should help in efforts to develop new sites…
“And what we learned is that they are easing some of those guidelines that we have to meet. One restriction had been access to four lane highways. So, you know, just some of those pieces that made us ineligible with some of our sites. So we’re excited to hear that some of that is easing but on the flip side of that with the movement in the industry toward the mega projects, 1,500 acres, 5,000 employees, with some of these projects that we’re seeing, there is also some movement at the state level with high quality jobs act incentives, and one ofthe criteria for this new pool of funds is going to be certification of the site.”
Landauer says corridor representatives will be attending an event Thursday in which the new certification requirements will be discussed further.
