The Logan County Chamber of Commerce fields search inquiries, often on a weekly basis, from companies looking for industrial-quality buildings or shovel-ready sites to establish or grow their businesses, President and CEO Ben Vollrath said.
Previously, Logan County would often have to eliminate itself from consideration because it did not have those type of sites available, the chamber president said.
However, the new Progress Way — a new roadway and available utilities that was constructed starting in early summer on the city’s west side along west Sandusky Avenue under the guidance of Marker Development — was dedicated during a ceremony Friday and is now available to meet those needs.
The one-third of a mile Progress Way located near the current NEX Transportation, 1400 W. Sandusky Ave., will service the newly named Peak Industrial Park, which is the largest Logan County public-private partnership to date. In the future, the 110 acres could incorporate nearly 2 million square feet of industrial space, Marker CEO Randy Marker said.
Friday, the chamber gathered with City of Bellefontaine and Logan County officials and Marker Development for the ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate this new economic venture.
“Having shovel-ready industrial land and speculative industrial buildings are the building blocks for helping existing area businesses expand and for attracting new ones,” Vollrath said.
“Site selection is so competitive, and with water, sewer ready to go in these shovel-ready sites, we are primed for new opportunities. We have already received several phone calls just in the last week about the new industrial park.”
A recent Logan County survey conducted by Ohio University and Bowling Green State University identified this prior lack of “shovel ready” industrial property as one of the top four needs for economic development in the area.
Last year, the city and Marker Development began addressing this need, and were joined by One Columbus, ODOT and JobsOhio, who worked together to build Progress Way and the utilities that will service the new industrial park.
“From the outset when NEX Transport needed more space, the city has provided the economic incentives that were needed to attract new development,” Marker said.
“The combination of the newly formed port authority and the Community Reinvestment Area incentives made the risk of these developments tolerable.
“With the infrastructure nearly complete, 110 acres are now ready for development. We project the build-out could include nearly two million square feet of industrial space.”
The city is well-situated for attracting these developments, and the potential manufacturing jobs will provide a boost to other areas of the local economy as well, Vollrath and Bellefontaine Mayor Ben Stahler noted.
“We believe that our community has so much to offer,” Mayor Stahler said.
“Bellefontaine has a low income tax rate, abundant workforce, and public utility rates that are among the lowest in the region. Logistically, we are located at the crossroads of many well-traveled highways.
“We are very excited about the development of Peak Industrial Park. We feel that this is a vital step to create new jobs in our community, which will add to our local economy.”
“For every new manufacturing job created, there is a multiplier effect of creating five to seven other jobs in our community,” Vollrath said. “This means when base employers grow in this Industrial Park, it will cause more retail, restaurant and supplier jobs as well.”