Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) and Iowa Finance Authority Director Debi Durham joined officials from Bondurant to commemorate the certification of Myers Industrial Site, the second site to be certified in the community under IEDA’s Certified Sites program. The site was officially certified in September 2022.
“Having certified sites in Iowa gives us a tremendous advantage in attracting companies,” said Director Durham. “Companies today are conducting their site searches on aggressive timelines. Certification says a site is development-ready and demonstrates that the community is open for business. I applaud communities like Bondurant that take on the rigorous certification process, knowing that it will pay off in terms of jobs and prosperity for the state.”
Myers Industrial Site covers almost 65 acres, all of which are developable. The site is centrally located east of Hubbell Avenue/US Highway 65 and south of NE 78th Avenue with easy access to Interstate 35, which is under 4 miles away, as well as nearby Interstate 80. The site is zoned as Medium Industrial which makes it suitable for a wide variety of industrial uses.
“The City of Bondurant has been proactive in collaborating with property owners to participate in the Certified Site program,” said Bondurant Mayor Doug Elrod. “We have found this to be an excellent economic development tool and appreciate the assistance from the Iowa Economic Development Authority in navigating the program. We value our partners who have helped facilitate site certification, specifically our landowners, our engineers, our utility partner in MidAmerican Energy, and our planning and economic development partners such as the MPO and the Greater Des Moines Partnership. Using site certification as an economic development tool has supported our commercial and industrial valuation growth, increasing 535% in the last five years and spurring the creation of more than 3,000 jobs.”
IEDA launched the Iowa Certified Sites program in 2012 to address the lack of project-ready industrial sites in the state. It is an independent, third-party program with certification through the nationally recognized site selection firm Quest Site Solutions. The program, one of the nation’s most robust and effective certification programs, considers Iowa’s natural assets and the needs of the state’s targeted industry sectors of advanced manufacturing, biosciences and finance and insurance. Amazon quickly secured Bondurant’s first certified site, announced in 2019, for its central Iowa fulfillment center.
Site certification remains one of the fastest growing trends in the site selection business, and by introducing certified sites to the market, Iowa is better able to compete for projects. To date, Iowa has attracted more than $1.3 billion in capital investment because of these development-ready sites. Throughout the certification process, developers – working closely with local officials and utility partners – are better prepared to market their sites with specific site-related information and community data. The process also assures business prospects that site due diligence has been completed and mitigation and infrastructure plans are in place – meaning sites are relatively “risk-free.”
The next application round for certified sites will open in August. For more information on Iowa’s Certified Sites Program, visit iowaeda.com/locations.
For more information contact:
Staci Hupp Ballard
515.348.6245
communications@iowaeda.com
