~ John Will Stacy MMRC Regional Industrial Park joins growing list of Build-Ready locations across the commonwealth ~
Today, Gov. Andy Beshear highlighted continued momentum of the commonwealth’s site development efforts with the announcement of a new Build-Ready location in Rowan County, putting the area in a position for future economic success.
The John Will Stacy MMRC Regional Industrial Park, located at 100 Industry Road in Morehead, adds to the state’s growing list of properties certified by the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development as Build-Ready. These sites are available statewide for companies looking to locate in the commonwealth and start construction and operations quickly.
“The Build-Ready program has continued to grow over the last several years, and I’m excited to see that momentum continuing in Rowan County,” said Gov. Beshear. “The work we are doing right now is paving the way for companies to choose the commonwealth as a home for their business, bringing with them quality jobs and opportunities for communities across the state. I want to thank local leadership in Morehead and Rowan County, as well as regional and state officials who helped make this site in the MMRC Regional Industrial Park certified and ready for business.”
The site, Lot 10, includes a 150,000-square-foot graded building pad on 22.4 acres. The MMRC Regional Industrial Park has over 280 acres available for development. The industrial park is less than 1.5 miles from Interstate Highway 64 and about 65 miles east of the Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky.
Utilities include a 10-inch force main sewer line, as well as an 8-inch gravity sewer line. The property also includes the availability of a 16-inch waterline, and the site offers electric, gas and fiber internet utilities.
In April 2022, Gov. Beshear announced that the MMRC Regional Industrial Park would see $425,000 in upgrades, with support from a $212,500 state grant through the Kentucky Product Development Initiative (KPDI) and a local match from the MMRC Regional Industrial Development Authority. KPDI was created through a partnership between the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development and the Kentucky Association for Economic Development (KAED) to provide competitive grants to Kentucky economic development organizations and local governments to supplement site and building improvement projects.
Rowan County Judge/Executive Harry Clark spoke on the benefits of the KPDI program: “The Kentucky Product Development Initiative Program has provided counties like Rowan County with the opportunity to make these critical investments necessary to attract jobs and economic growth to Eastern Kentucky. For us, KPDI has been one of the most forward-thinking and game-changing programs to come about in the last decade, and we are thankful to Gov. Beshear and the legislature for providing us with the opportunity to make Rowan County and the region a better place to live, work and do business.”
Morehead Mayor Laura White-Brown talked about the site’s potential: “This initiative will keep Morehead and Rowan County on the map. Having a site like this keeps our community ready to grow and attractive to new and innovative industry. Morehead is excited to help the commonwealth keep moving forward. This is a small piece with huge potential for our region.”
Jason Slone, president and CEO of the Morehead-Rowan County Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development, mentioned the future investments and jobs the site will spur: “The construction and certification of this site provides us with a shovel ready site to potential site selectors seeking to locate in the commonwealth and here in the MMRC Regional Industrial Park in Rowan County. The Kentucky Product Development Initiative program has proven instrumental to the commonwealth, Morehead and Rowan County to spur investments and the creation of future good paying jobs.”
With a Build-Ready site, much of the work – aside from construction – has already been completed. That includes controlling the land to be developed, completing archaeological, environmental and geotechnical studies, constructing a building pad, finishing preliminary design work, obtaining approved site plan permits and putting necessary infrastructure in place. On a Build-Ready site, construction can begin immediately.
To be Build-Ready-certified, a site must include a pad ready to accommodate a building of 50,000 square feet with the ability to expand to 100,000 square feet or more – and utilities extending to the site. Applicants – usually a city, county or economic development group – must have previously filed the necessary permits, as well as preliminary building plans, cost estimates and schedule projections. Applicants also are asked to provide a rendering of a potential building for the site.
Including the new site in Morehead, the commonwealth is home to roughly 21 available Build-Ready sites. Multiple other locations across the state are currently working toward certification.
To date, eleven former Build-Ready-certified sites, including tracts located in Barren, Butler, Christian, Graves, Hart and Laurel counties and five sites in Warren County, have been selected by companies for new location projects, allowing companies to bring their operations online in a cost-efficient manner while creating jobs for local Kentuckians.
For more information on Build-Ready sites in Kentucky, visit CED.ky.gov/BuildReady.
A detailed community profile for Rowan County can be viewed here.
Information on Kentucky’s economic development efforts and programs is available at CED.ky.gov. Fans of the Cabinet for Economic Development can also join the discussion at facebook.com/CEDkygov, on Twitter @CEDkygov, Instagram @CEDkygov and LinkedIn.
