News
- 'Tis the $eason to $hop Locally
December 21, 2008 - The Siouxland Initiative Announces and Seeks Candidates for an Innovative New Program to foster Entrepreneurism
December 15, 2008 - How will Siouxland Weather the Recession?
December 7, 2008 - National Site-Selection Firm Certifies Siouxland Sites
October 27, 2008
National Site-Selection Firm Certifies Siouxland Sites
October 27, 2008
CH2M Hill approves sites in Iowa and South Dakota as shovel ready
Sioux City, IA - CH2M Hill, a nationally-recognized firm specializing in assisting companies in locating expansion projects, recently announced the certification of two Siouxland business parks. The certification program requires that land being developed as a potential location for company expansion go through a rigorous checklist to ensure that the site has all the necessary infrastructure, zoning, and other characteristics needed for development. Community stakeholders were required to pull together resources, prepare for and host a site visit by CH2M Hill, and answer extensive questions as to the specifics of each site. Certification allows local economic developers to market the sites as shovel ready, which companies and consultants look for when considering possible sites for expansion.
Site certification is the basis for marketing an inventory of "certified" properties that meet a certain set of pre-determined criteria in order to decrease development time and risk to an expanding company because more is known about the property under consideration.
The two hundred and fifty acre Bridgeport Business Park in Sioux City, Iowa and the one hundred sixty acre Flynn Business Park in North Sioux City, South Dakota both were certified. William Hearn, Senior Technologist for CH2M Hill and the person responsible for the certification of the sites congratulated the community for the accomplishment and stated that CH2M Hill firmly believes that both sites are worthy of the certified designation. Hearn also stated that the time, talents and resources allocated for the sites' preparation for certification was an investment well spent.
Debi Durham, President of The Siouxland Initiative (TSI), explained "This certification allows us as regional economic developers to go out and aggressively market these sites as shovel ready to companies looking to expand. With communities across the country and world competing for a limited number of expansion projects, this certification gives us an advantage when vying for these opportunities."
Chris McGowan, Executive Vice President of The Siouxland Initiative, noted that there are other sites in Siouxland that are working towards certification and that the goal is to have a portfolio of certified sites in each of the three states that make up the Siouxland Metro area. McGowan, who heads up TSI's efforts to market sites worldwide, also noted that this is further evidence of the commitment of Siouxland's economic developers to continued growth and expansion.
Site certification is the basis for marketing an inventory of "certified" properties that meet a certain set of pre-determined criteria in order to decrease development time and risk to an expanding company because more is known about the property under consideration.
The two hundred and fifty acre Bridgeport Business Park in Sioux City, Iowa and the one hundred sixty acre Flynn Business Park in North Sioux City, South Dakota both were certified. William Hearn, Senior Technologist for CH2M Hill and the person responsible for the certification of the sites congratulated the community for the accomplishment and stated that CH2M Hill firmly believes that both sites are worthy of the certified designation. Hearn also stated that the time, talents and resources allocated for the sites' preparation for certification was an investment well spent.
Debi Durham, President of The Siouxland Initiative (TSI), explained "This certification allows us as regional economic developers to go out and aggressively market these sites as shovel ready to companies looking to expand. With communities across the country and world competing for a limited number of expansion projects, this certification gives us an advantage when vying for these opportunities."
Chris McGowan, Executive Vice President of The Siouxland Initiative, noted that there are other sites in Siouxland that are working towards certification and that the goal is to have a portfolio of certified sites in each of the three states that make up the Siouxland Metro area. McGowan, who heads up TSI's efforts to market sites worldwide, also noted that this is further evidence of the commitment of Siouxland's economic developers to continued growth and expansion.
