Experts Visit Sites For Industrial Certification

August 5, 2013

Gulf Power Company’s site certification program took a  step forward last week when consultants visited 14 sites in six Northwest Florida counties to evaluate whether the sites are good candidates to be certified for industrial development.

Gulf Power kicked off the program earlier this year to identify public and private lands that could be prepared ahead of time for the location of new or expanding companies. The consulting firm evaluates the properties, identifies improvements that must be made and then certifies the sites once they have met all the program requirements.

“The program is moving forward, right on schedule with the site visits,” said John Hutchinson, Gulf Power’s director of Public Affairs and Economic Development. “Getting out and kicking the dirt gives the consultants the opportunity to identify which sites are best suited to be certified.”

Six sites were visited in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, including land at the Pensacola International Airport, Whiting Field and four sites in or near the Santa Rosa Industrial Park in east Milton.

McCallum Sweeney will evaluate the data collected during the site visits and report back to landowners in September whether or not their sites are candidates for certification and what additional requirements must be met. Once a site is evaluated and selected to move forward, site owners will have up to a year to complete the program requirements. Gulf Power is paying half the consultant charges for publicly owned sites with private landowners paying the full amount.

The Gulf Power program is the first of its kind in Florida. Once a site is certified it becomes much more attractive to prospective businesses and having certified sites allows Northwest Florida to be more competitive with neighboring states.

“Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi all have certified sites — as well as other states,” Hutchinson said. “If we are going to compete for new jobs, we have to have sites that are ready to go with infrastructure plans and permits in place and sites that are located near transportation corridors.”

Once certified, the sites will be marketed by local, regional and state economic development agencies to prospective companies to bring new jobs to Northwest Florida.

Comments

One Response to “Experts Visit Sites For Industrial Certification”

  1. Jane on August 5th, 2013 12:52 pm

    What about the Commercial Park on Hwy 29? Why doesn’t someone open some businesses there?

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News