THE STAFF AT MOBERLY AREA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ANNOUNCED TODAY that their office received notification that the Howard County Industrial Park, a Missouri Certified Site, has received recertification for another three year term from the Missouri Department of Economic Development. The Howard County Industrial Park was the 11th Certified Site in the State of Missouri and earned its original designation on November 4, 2011.
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The 45.21 acre site is located at 696 State Road DD in Howard County 15 miles north of Interstate 70, 35 miles west of 4-lane US Highway 63 with connection to 4-lane US Highway 36 with access to Interstate 72 and Interstate 35 and is home to Missouri Pacific Lumber.
According to MAEDC President Corey Mehaffy the Howard County Industrial Park provides a number of advantages to prospective industries interested in making investment in northeast Missouri including a centralized location within the U.S. which allows superb accessibility for servicing all major US markets. The Howard County Industrial Park also provides proximity to intermodal services in Kansas City and St. Louis which boast the 2nd and 3rd largest railroad terminals in the U.S. creating opportunity for area employers to service the global marketplace.
According to Certified Sites Program Administrator Hal Van Slyk the Howard County Industrial Park is a solid economic asset to Fayette, Howard County and the entire MAEDC Region and is well-placed in the twenty three very best land sites certified in the MCS Program.
According to Mehaffy the Certified Site Designation is significant. Mehaffy added, “The certification designates the site as shovel ready which eliminates potential risk for our prospects. In this case instead of considering a site with a number of unknowns, the prospect can now be handed a Phase 1 Environmental Review along with a Geotechnical Report detailing the results of soil borings completed on the site.” Mehaffy went on to say, “The certification process expedites the site selection process by providing solid data for our prospects on the site characteristics. Site Selection Consultants tell us that this certification process saves their clients as much as 90 days in their process of identifying the right site for their project.”
Howard County Representative to the MAEDC Board of Directors Kirk Biere added, “The Certified Site Program required an investment by the citizens of Howard County and this designation combined with our existing Enhanced Enterprise Zone demonstrates to potential prospects that Howard County is serious about economic development. In today’s competitive economic development environment it is critical for our communities to be prepared.”
MAEDC Vice-President David Gaines added, “The Program expedites the development process by allowing a company to choose to invest in our communities and immediately move forward the construction phase.”
The MAEDC Region now has three sites within its inventory of industrial sites that have received the Certified Site designation from the State of Missouri. Moberly, Fayette and Paris all have Industrial Parks that have received this designation. According to Mehaffy two additional applications for certified site designations are in process within the MAEDC Region involving Industrial Parks in Monroe City.