Business doesn’t pick Charles City for location

By BOB STEENSON, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — The community missed out on landing a recent business opportunity, but the experience in applying was worthwhile, according to the area economic development director.

Tim Fox, executive director of the Charles City Area Economic Development Corp., told that group Wednesday that the Iowa Economic Development Authority contacted him earlier this month about a business looking for a site on which to locate.

“The request for proposal came to us on April 12. They were looking for proximity to the Avenue of the Saints and proximity to rail,” Fox said.

“We submitted three sites and we were not selected. What we found out is they were looking primarily at costs,” he said.

Fox said he didn’t know the name of the company or many details about it. The proposal also needed a very quick turn-around.

“It was good going through the process,” he said. “We haven’t done that for awhile. It was good putting a team together to work on it and evaluate it.

“What we found out is that we have a lot of natural gas lines in the county but we don’t have many sites served by actual service,” Fox said. “To do a project we’d have to run natural gas 2 miles to 4.7 miles.”

Fox said the Charles City area would be considered more often by the state for development projects if it had a certified site ready.

A certified site has passed qualifications set by a national consulting firm. It means the property is quickly available for sale or lease with established terms and conditions, all infrastructure is already in place or detailed plans and prices have been developed, and environmental and other assessments have been completed.

There are 16 certified sites in Iowa. In the region that includes sites in Osage, Mason City and Forest City.

“It was nice to get asked to respond to a project,” Fox said. “It’s good to see the factors that they were looking for.

Also at the meeting the group:

• Discussed strategic planning sessions to be facilitated by the Institute for Decision Making. The first will be 4 to 7:30 p.m. May 16 at the NIACC Center.

• Approved an application from the corporation’s Housing Assistance Fund to help with a downpayment for a home on Meadow Lane. The group has a contract with the Iowa Finance Authority to loan money for home down payments to people who meet income guidelines. Funds are returned to the CCADC through tax increment financing revenues.

• Awarded a contract to Amplified Digital to rebuild the group’s website, charlescityia.com. The company will be paid $1,450 upfront then $99 a month for site maintenance and site hosting.

• Heard a report on the Floyd County Housing Trust Fund 2017 Furnace Replacement Program. The program has replaced 38 furnaces at an average cost of $3,035. Funding comes from state and federal programs.

• Heard that the Iowa Biotechnology Association will hold its spotlight series in Charles City on Sept. 13 and 14. About 80 mostly engineers and scientists are expected to be in the community for the event, which will include tours of at least a couple of local industries.