For Immediate Release

Release Date: 05-06-09

COLUMBIA– Department of Economic Development (DED) Director Linda Martěnez joined local officials in Columbia today at the official announcement of Ewing Industrial Park as the state’s first designated Certified Site. The 148-acre site, chosen by DED’s Certified Site team, will provide Columbia with a competitive advantage in attracting 21st century jobs.

“There is not a moment to lose when it comes to devising strategies for creating jobs, and growing our economy,” Martěnez said. “The Certified Site selection process, with its stringent technical review and validation of site resources and amenities, will ensure that these sites are competitively positioned to create hundreds of new jobs in their local areas which will positively impact our statewide economy.”

The Certified Site Program was developed through a cooperative effort with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Missouri Economic Development Council, Missouri’s Electric Cooperatives, Empire Electric, Kansas City Power and Light, the Ameren Corporation and DED. The program’s purpose is to provide consistent standards regarding the availability and development potential of commercial and industrial development sites. Site pre-qualification through the Certified Site process provides a standardized tool by which both development professionals and business prospects can review prospective sites for compatibility with their development needs. The certification of a site is performed through a comprehensive review of many of the issues facing businesses and corporations as they search for areas to relocate or expand. These issues include the availability of utilities, site access, environmental concerns, land use conformance, and potential development costs.

A review team consisting of up to 10 economic development professionals, including utility and certified community/economic development practitioners, is responsible for reviewing and approving Certified Site Program applications. Certified sites must be at least 10 acres or more in size; be marketing primarily by the community and local economic development organization for business recruitment or business expansion; and contain at a minimum water, sewer, and electric infrastructure at the site.

The Ewing Park location in Columbia contains the utility redundancy, telecommunications linkages, capacity, and road and rail accessibility to make the site ideally suited to host high tech, next-generation enterprises. Development efforts at the site are expected to include a wide range of potential tenants, including data centers, call centers, research and development facilities, disaster recovery installations, and innovative green-energy related industries.

“Our Certified Site program provides Missouri with an exciting opportunity to establish a statewide inventory of certified sites, which will improve our state’s competitive edge by giving more certainty for businesses in locating and developing projects quickly,” Martěnez said.

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