The City of Lewisburg recently earned certification for its Business Park on Mooresville Highway from the Middle Tennessee Industrial Development Association (MTIDA) to join only a handful of communities and sites across the state in becoming a “Deal Ready” Certified Industrial Site.
On Wednesday, Sept. 5, representatives with the City of Lewisburg, local utilities and the Industrial Development Board met with officials with MTIDA and CH2M HILL Lockwood Greene for a formal presentation of the Business Park’s “Deal Ready” site certification.
MTIDA, an economic development organization for Middle Tennessee power distributors, implemented the Deal Ready program to help Middle Tennessee communities attract more industries. MTIDA engaged the nationally known engineering and site-consulting firm of Lockwood Greene to serve as the third-party evaluator to certify the sites.
To qualify as “Deal Ready,” a site has to pass a rigorous evaluation process. Local economic developers submitted sites for review and had to provide more than 100 points of information on each site. Economic developers had to show that the site is free of ownership and transaction issues, environmental issues and meets the infrastructure requirements mandated by the Deal Ready program including water, gas and electrical lines available. A certified site is guaranteed to meet or exceed the criteria required by industries seeking a site for immediate development.
“A certified site jumps to the top of the list,” said Bill Shuff, Executive Director of MTIDA. “A business or a site consultant knows that a certified site is absolutely, positively ready to go.”
West Tennessee Industrial Association (WTIA), MTIDA’s counterpart in the Memphis region, is a partner in the Deal Ready program. WTIA announced certified sites in West Tennessee last month. To date, there are 35 sites across the state including 23 in the West Tennessee area and 12 in Middle Tennessee. The Lewisburg Business Park is now one of those “Deal Ready” sites.
“We want the Deal Ready seal of approval to be instantly recognizable for sites that can be fast-tracked and that hold no surprises,” said Shuff. “The number of sites that were certified is very impressive. Middle Tennessee has certified sites that range in size from 50 to over 1,000 acres. With these sites, local spec buildings and other available properties in our region we can attract a wide range of businesses.”
Director of Lewisburg’s Economic, Community and Industrial Development, Terry Wallace, sees adding the Lewisburg Business Park to the “Deal Ready” certified list as a tremendous asset to the marketing of the site to potential investors. He thanked the work of MTIDA and everyone with the City of Lewisburg for their hard work in making it possible.
“Everyone here today worked very hard to make this a reality,” Wallace said.
To make the Lewisburg Business Park certified took a joint effort from Mayor Bob Phillips, City Manager Eddie Fuller, members of the City Council, Lewisburg Electric Systems, Duck River Electric, Lewisburg Gas Department, Lewisburg Water Department and members of the Lewisburg Industrial Development Board.
“I must also acknowledge the work done by former Industrial Recruiter for the City, Larry McKnight,” Wallace said. “All of these people worked together and saw the importance in making the Business Park a ‘Deal Ready’ site and I feel confident we will see all of the hard work pay off.”
“This is an exciting step forward for the City of Lewisburg,” Mayor Phillips said. “It took a lot of people to get us to this point today and really put us on the map as a certified industrial site.”
Becoming a “Deal Ready” site also gives the Lewisburg Business Park additional promotion from the MTIDA not only within the state but across North America as well. The MTIDA has added the Lewisburg Business Park to promotional materials that are sent to prospective clients nationwide and can also be used by ECID Director Wallace to entice industries and businesses seeking a site to call their home.
“We already felt strongly that the location of the Business Park being just 7/10 of a mile from the interstate made it an excellent choice for prospective industries and businesses,” Wallace said. “Now, achieving this certification from the MTIDA makes the site even more impressive to possible investors.”
“The local economic developers are to be commended for their hard work to meet the certification requirements. Because of their efforts to meet the Deal Ready criteria, they have put Middle Tennessee in a very competitive position,” Shuff said.
“I think you’re in a really good program,” said Michelle Harris, project manager for CH2M HILL Lockwood Greene. “You’re out in front and ahead of the game. We firmly believe your site is worthy of this signification and would encourage you to fully support the ongoing marketing effort focusing on the preparedness of the certified sites to various industrial target markets.”
The Lewisburg Business Park already has its first tenant, U.S. Tank and Cryogenics. Construction on the U.S. Tank building is well underway and ECID Director Wallace is seeing more interest in the remaining property within the Lewisburg Business Park. He predicts more activity to be seen inside the business park by year’s end and sees the park’s designation as a “Deal Ready” site a perfect compliment to the ongoing promotion of the site.
“This certification will not only allow us to become more visible to the industrial world but will help us move closer to the top of more prospective lists,” Wallace said. “I feel very good about the direction we are heading with the Business Park.”
A website with complete information about the Deal Ready Program and detailed information about each site is located at http://www.dealready.com/. For more information, log onto mtida.org.
On Wednesday, Sept. 5, representatives with the City of Lewisburg, local utilities and the Industrial Development Board met with officials with MTIDA and CH2M HILL Lockwood Greene for a formal presentation of the Business Park’s “Deal Ready” site certification.
MTIDA, an economic development organization for Middle Tennessee power distributors, implemented the Deal Ready program to help Middle Tennessee communities attract more industries. MTIDA engaged the nationally known engineering and site-consulting firm of Lockwood Greene to serve as the third-party evaluator to certify the sites.
To qualify as “Deal Ready,” a site has to pass a rigorous evaluation process. Local economic developers submitted sites for review and had to provide more than 100 points of information on each site. Economic developers had to show that the site is free of ownership and transaction issues, environmental issues and meets the infrastructure requirements mandated by the Deal Ready program including water, gas and electrical lines available. A certified site is guaranteed to meet or exceed the criteria required by industries seeking a site for immediate development.
“A certified site jumps to the top of the list,” said Bill Shuff, Executive Director of MTIDA. “A business or a site consultant knows that a certified site is absolutely, positively ready to go.”
West Tennessee Industrial Association (WTIA), MTIDA’s counterpart in the Memphis region, is a partner in the Deal Ready program. WTIA announced certified sites in West Tennessee last month. To date, there are 35 sites across the state including 23 in the West Tennessee area and 12 in Middle Tennessee. The Lewisburg Business Park is now one of those “Deal Ready” sites.
“We want the Deal Ready seal of approval to be instantly recognizable for sites that can be fast-tracked and that hold no surprises,” said Shuff. “The number of sites that were certified is very impressive. Middle Tennessee has certified sites that range in size from 50 to over 1,000 acres. With these sites, local spec buildings and other available properties in our region we can attract a wide range of businesses.”
Director of Lewisburg’s Economic, Community and Industrial Development, Terry Wallace, sees adding the Lewisburg Business Park to the “Deal Ready” certified list as a tremendous asset to the marketing of the site to potential investors. He thanked the work of MTIDA and everyone with the City of Lewisburg for their hard work in making it possible.
“Everyone here today worked very hard to make this a reality,” Wallace said.
To make the Lewisburg Business Park certified took a joint effort from Mayor Bob Phillips, City Manager Eddie Fuller, members of the City Council, Lewisburg Electric Systems, Duck River Electric, Lewisburg Gas Department, Lewisburg Water Department and members of the Lewisburg Industrial Development Board.
“I must also acknowledge the work done by former Industrial Recruiter for the City, Larry McKnight,” Wallace said. “All of these people worked together and saw the importance in making the Business Park a ‘Deal Ready’ site and I feel confident we will see all of the hard work pay off.”
“This is an exciting step forward for the City of Lewisburg,” Mayor Phillips said. “It took a lot of people to get us to this point today and really put us on the map as a certified industrial site.”
Becoming a “Deal Ready” site also gives the Lewisburg Business Park additional promotion from the MTIDA not only within the state but across North America as well. The MTIDA has added the Lewisburg Business Park to promotional materials that are sent to prospective clients nationwide and can also be used by ECID Director Wallace to entice industries and businesses seeking a site to call their home.
“We already felt strongly that the location of the Business Park being just 7/10 of a mile from the interstate made it an excellent choice for prospective industries and businesses,” Wallace said. “Now, achieving this certification from the MTIDA makes the site even more impressive to possible investors.”
“The local economic developers are to be commended for their hard work to meet the certification requirements. Because of their efforts to meet the Deal Ready criteria, they have put Middle Tennessee in a very competitive position,” Shuff said.
“I think you’re in a really good program,” said Michelle Harris, project manager for CH2M HILL Lockwood Greene. “You’re out in front and ahead of the game. We firmly believe your site is worthy of this signification and would encourage you to fully support the ongoing marketing effort focusing on the preparedness of the certified sites to various industrial target markets.”
The Lewisburg Business Park already has its first tenant, U.S. Tank and Cryogenics. Construction on the U.S. Tank building is well underway and ECID Director Wallace is seeing more interest in the remaining property within the Lewisburg Business Park. He predicts more activity to be seen inside the business park by year’s end and sees the park’s designation as a “Deal Ready” site a perfect compliment to the ongoing promotion of the site.
“This certification will not only allow us to become more visible to the industrial world but will help us move closer to the top of more prospective lists,” Wallace said. “I feel very good about the direction we are heading with the Business Park.”
A website with complete information about the Deal Ready Program and detailed information about each site is located at http://www.dealready.com/. For more information, log onto mtida.org.
Photo Caption:
On hand for the presentation of the Lewisburg Business Park’s “Deal Ready” Certification were: IDB member Tommy Harris, City Council Member Hershel Davis, City Council Member Quinn Brandon, Lewisburg Water and Waste Water Assistant Superintendent Kenneth Carr, ECID Director Terry Wallace, IDB Member Lee Morrison, CH2M HILL Lockwood Greene Project Manager Michelle Harris, MTIDA Executive Director Bill Shuff, City Council Member Phil Sanders, City Manager Eddie Fuller, Lewisburg Gas Dept. Manager Pat Morgan and Mayor Bob Phillips. – Photo by Greg Lowe
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