BUCYRUS — As of Friday afternoon, a 22-acre parcel on the Crossroads Industrial Park in Bucyrus is within the cross-hairs of major national food and beverage manufacturers.
The plot of land was certified as a Food and Beverage Certified Site through a collaboration with American Electric Power, Austin Consulting and Crawford County Partnership for Education and Economic Development.
According to Economic and Business Development Manager for AEP Tim Wells, the certification, also referred to as a “shovel ready” site, process keeps communities competitive on a national scale with respective manufacturers.
“Site certification is a trend to where companies looking to build, it’s a process of elimination, not inclusion. So communities need to make sure they’re staying on top of the competition,” he said.
Before any company builds a factory, there are many steps, including logistics behind zoning laws, setting up utilities and making sure environmental guidelines are followed. Being certified means those steps are already taken care of for the companies looking to move onto a site like Crossroads Industrial Park, said Michelle Failor, Communications and Administrative Coordinator for CCEEDP.
“Hopefully this will gain us some new business,” Failor said.
Crawford County Success Center hosted the groups involved in the certification ceremony. In attendance were representatives from AEP, Jobs Ohio and Regional Growth Partnership.
“This just streamlines the process,” explained Chase Eikenbary, Regional Project Manager for Jobs Ohio. According to Eikenbary, AEP has worked to certify five shovel ready sites in northwest Ohio.
CCEEDP Executive Director Gary Frankhouse said the shovel-ready site, which is part of a 253-acre plot of land already in use for manufacturing purposes, is a good marketing tool for Bucyrus and Crawford County.
“Food and beverage companies seeking to do business in Crawford County will now be able to save time and money, and avoid risk, because we have a certified site that addresses all of their basic requirements. Instead, they can spend their time discovering why we are the right fit,” Frankhouse said in a press release issued by AEP earlier in the week.
Failor said the 22-acre plot has not received any nibbles from potential buyers, but said it will be on AEP’s website and CCEEDP will work in tandem with other agencies in Ohio to market it.
“This has given us national exposure,” she said. “It’s exciting.”
