GLASGOW, Ky. (March 20, 2015) – Lieutenant Governor Crit Luallen today joined community leaders to announce that an industrial site in Glasgow will be officially certified under Kentucky's new Build-Ready program.
Build-Ready, launched by the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development last year, is a cost-effective way for communities to distinguish their list of available industrial sites to meet the needs of today's site selectors.
"Build-Ready is intended to give communities an advantage in attracting new businesses," said Gov. Steve Beshear. "We expect this designation to generate even more economic interest in Barren County. Any company that visits this site will know that it will be able to begin construction almost immediately, drastically shortening the time it takes to be operational."
"It's very exciting to see more and more communities utilizing the Build-Ready program," said Lt. Gov. Luallen. "Today's Build-Ready designation is a big win for the future of Glasgow and the region."
The 24-acre site is located in the Highland Glen Industrial Park. Within the park also is an 80,000-square-foot spec building – a move-in ready building – built to the exact same specification as the Build-Ready site that will be completed this spring. This offers potential companies two different options: the super-fast track of locating in an existing building or the flexibility of building their own facility on the customizable Build Ready site.
This is the fourth site in the Commonwealth to be certified as Build-Ready. Two sites in Bowling Green and one in Henderson received the certification last year.
In addition to shovel-ready sites and pre-existing buildings, communities now have the option of proactively preparing and marketing land to potential companies without assuming all the risk and cost of constructing a building. With a Build-Ready site, much of the work, besides actual construction, has already been completed, including having community control of the land to be developed, preparing a building pad (prepared ground/soil/environmental studies), conducting preliminary design work, including project costs and construction timeframes, obtaining approved site plan permits and having necessary utility and transportation infrastructure in place.
Communities that meet the minimum standards for each requirement of the Build-Ready program will drastically reduce the time it takes a company to select a site, construct a new building and begin operations. By expediting this timeline and putting companies in operation faster, communities make their sites more attractive to companies and site selectors.
Build-Ready sites receive special designation on the Cabinet's SelectKentucky.com website and other collateral materials that will be marketed around the world.
"I am excited that Glasgow's Highland Glenn Industrial Park has obtained the Build-Ready certification," said Sen. David Givens, of Greensburg. "Any tool that will attract investment and streamline the process of getting new companies off the ground and operating is of great value."
"I'm really proud that Glasgow is among the first communities in Kentucky certified for this program, which will really help market us across the country as companies consider expansion," said Rep. Johnny Bell, of Glasgow. "This is further proof that our region is doing all it can to spur economic development, so I want to thank our local leaders for taking this critical step."
"Glasgow is fortunate to have an aggressive Industrial Development Economic Authority Board that works to keep us attractive to all clients looking to locate in a new area," said Glasgow Mayor Dick Doty. "This is evident by the fact that we are only the third community to provide a Build-Ready site. Their continual effort to remove obstacles impeding clients from swift location has positioned Glasgow/Barren County at the top of the list of Kentucky cities vying for companies. The Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development's creativity and leadership in developing the Build-Ready Program will prove valuable to us as we strive to grow our community for our citizens."
"By the cooperative efforts of city, county and state governments, Barren County is reaping the benefits of having a Build-Ready site," said Barren County Judge-Executive Micheal Hale. "Having a Build Ready site provides an invaluable opportunity to promote industrial growth for our area and allows our community to proudly proclaim that Barren County is open for business."
Learn more about Build-Ready www.SelectKentucky.com/BuildReady.
Barren County also has been certified by the Kentucky Workforce Investment Board as a Work Ready in Progress Community. The certification is an assurance to business and industry that the community is committed to providing the highly skilled workforce required in today's competitive global economy.
A detailed community profile for Glasgow (Barren County) can be viewed here.