Press release from the Northeast Indiana Fund:
Northeast Indiana doubles inventory of development-ready sites
Certified Site Ready program ensures sites are ready for expedited development process(December 7, 2010) – Northeast Indiana announced today it has doubled its inventory of development-ready sites. The Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership (NEIRP), along with its support foundation the Northeast Indiana Fund (NIF), revealed six additional sites for the Certified Site Ready program. The Certified Site Ready program is designed to meet the needs of site selectors and prospect companies in today’s highly competitive global site selection market. The program was established to ensure Northeast Indiana sites meet critical criteria for development and to create an expedited process catering to stringent production timelines and a low tolerance for delay.
The six sites are as follows:
- James E. Kelley Aero Centre of Allen County (108 acres)
- Auburn-Watson Property of DeKalb County (70.63 acres)
- Auburn-Yoder Property of DeKalb County (59.4 acres)
- Garrett Industrial Park North Property of DeKalb County (29.65 acres)
- Kendallville East Industrial Park of Noble County (36)
- Rail Connect Business Park of Whitley County (110 acres)
More detailed information on each of the sites will be available soon at www.chooseneindiana.com under the Featured Sites section.
“This program shows how seriously Northeast Indiana takes site development, “Jill Perillo said. Perillo serves as economic development manager for Indiana Michigan Power and is on the executive committee of the NEIRP board. “Our counties are proactively ensuring that a great amount of acreage is ready for development when a site selector or company comes looking to expand or relocate. We are going to be the right place for them and we are going to have a site that is ready for them in terms of infrastructure, zoning and utilities.”
With Certified Site Ready, Northeast Indiana proves that it is committed to the success of business and the economic vitality of the region. The program helps to increase the region’s readiness to attract jobs and capital investment and makes it easier for businesses to find a home and success in Northeast Indiana.
The certification process is handled by a third-party consultant, Mark Williams, president of Strategic Development Group, Inc. The privately-owned professional consulting firm certified the new Certified Site Ready sites by 15 criteria, including: site size, ownership, industrial zoning, 100-year flood plan, environmental study, site buffer considerations, preliminary geotechnical exploration, and infrastructure – including water, sewer, electrical, natural gas, highways and telecommunications.
“I’m happy to be a part of this announcement today for the second round of Certified Site Ready sites for Northeast Indiana,” said Williams. “A little less than a year ago, we were here announcing the program and the first six certified sites. Today, the region has doubled the number of those sites, and vastly increased it competitiveness. Simply put, regions which invest in systematically preparing for development will compete better than those who do not.”
Site certification allows for a competitive advantage in the site selection process, and gives local economic development organizations a head-start when working to attract new business. Rick Sherck, executive director, Noble County Economic Development Corp. and LEDO council chair said he supports the program and its ability to increase the region’s reputation as a whole.
“As a region with a strong site-certification program, we will be able to stand out among other options for site selectors. Having Certified Site Ready strong across Northeast Indiana will increase our reputation for being a region that is business friendly and has high standards,” said Sherck.
NEIRP works to globally market Northeast Indiana and attract business leads to the region, and those marketing activities are supplemented by the capacity building efforts that are spearheaded by the NIF.
“Together NEIRP and NIF work in tandem to build the region and sell its advantages to the rest of the world. Certified Site Ready is just one way that the organizations work as one. Along with Vision 2020 and the Talent Initiative, these programs are strengthening Northeast Indiana and its workforce, creating a 10-county region that is able to compete globally. Announcements like today’s show very clearly how collaboration among the counties, and between the Partnership and the Fund, directly contribute to the success of Northeast Indiana,” said John Sampson, president and CEO of NEIRP.
About the Northeast Indiana Fund: The Northeast Indiana Fund’s mission is to support the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership and its ten member counties through the funding and coordination of charitable activities which directly contribute to increasing the region’s capacity to support new business investment and the creation of high quality jobs for the region. The Northeast Indiana Fund has received support from the Harold P. Arnold Foundation, the Olive B. Cole Foundation, the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne, the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne/SDI Fund, The Dekko Foundation, the English Bonter Mitchell Foundation, the Foellinger Foundation, the Robert Goldstine Foundation, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, Indiana Michigan Power, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Lincoln Financial Foundation, the NiSource Foundation, NIPSCO, the Regional Chamber of Northeast Indiana, the Steel Dynamics Foundation and the Verizon Foundation.
About the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership: Created in 2006, the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership’s mission is to market the 10-county region and team with local economic development organizations (LEDOs) to bring new jobs and commercial investment to the area. NEIRP’s global marketing efforts will be on behalf of LEDOs in Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wabash, Wells and Whitley counties. www.chooseneindiana.com
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