By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
The state of Missouri is working to tackle economic challenges in drawing more businesses to the state.
St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce President Natalie Hawn says one of those challenges identified, is the amount of land required for mega sites a company might demand
"That could be because we have a lot of family farms, which agriculture is an important industry, but they've really looked at how can we more competitive so that we can attract some of these larger projects that have that deep economic influence on our community for years to come or on our state for years to come," Hawn tells KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr.
Hawn says these sites are much larger than most industrial sites
"Thousand-acre site, so that's contiguous thousand-acre sites, or contiguous two-to-three-hundred-acre sites," Hawn explains. "So, they really identified that we as a state just don't have that land, those larger sites together, and those larger sites with infrastructure."
Hawn says there is competition with other states that have spent money on this land and developed it for these kinds of projects.
Hawn adds however St. Joseph has done a good job with these areas, with business parks such as Mitchell Woods and East Towne.
The Missouri Partnership, the state’s business recruitment arm, has determined ten sites across the state that could be evaluated for these locations.
Hawn says one of those sites is right here in St. Joseph.
"So we're continuing to look at what that could look like, those are privately owned so it would involve purchasing the site, it would involve infrastructure on the site, so we're continuing to work with the state to look at what that premiere site could look like and how the state might help with some of the funding on that," Hawn says.
Hawn says the state recognizes there is responsibility in developing those sites and helping communities in getting them ready for new businesses.
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