Shovel-ready in Arlington

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ACDC partners with Heartland and local banks to install infrastructure in industrial park

After years of preparation, a vision is about to become reality in Arlington.

Infrastructure will soon be installed in the city’s industrial park, including water, sewer, electric, roads, curb and gutter. The Arlington Community Development Corporation (ACDC) recently secured funding to complete four lots totaling roughly 20 acres.

Heartland Consumers Power District, the city’s wholesale power supplier, along with Citizens State Bank and CorTrust Bank of Arlington, teamed up to finance the project.

Once construction is complete, ACDC will apply for Certified Ready Site status with the South Dakota Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED).

“This has been a top priority for some time,” said ACDC President Randy Jencks. “We are eager to see it to fruition because it will put Arlington in a great position to attract growth.”

Certified Ready appeal

Certified Ready Sites is an economic development tool which promotes commercial and industrial sites that are development ready. These sites have all the planning, zoning, environmental studies and infrastructure engineering completed so they are essentially shovel-ready.

“All other factors being equal, site selection firms and companies looking to expand may look more favorably towards sites deemed certified or shovel ready because they come with guarantees and expedite development,” said Heartland Director of Economic Development Casey Crabtree. “Having much of the up-front work complete will help Arlington officials position their city ahead of the pack.”

The ACDC has been working to obtain Certified Ready status for the industrial park since 2014. The Certified Ready Sites program is available to all cities, counties and developers in the state. GOED promotes Certified Ready sites on their website to site selectors and expanding businesses across the nation.

“It’s an elaborate application process,” said ACDC Executive Director Jason Uphoff. “We’ve spent a lot of time planning and gathering data. It will all be worth it in the end as we will have a marketable asset–move-in ready sites.”

Lasting benefit to the community

Construction, contracted by Halme, Inc. of Bryant, SD, is expected to begin immediately and will wrap up this fall.

Arlington Mayor Amiel Redfish looks forward to what this will mean for the community.

“There are many advantages for a city the size of Arlington to have an industrial park, particularly one that is certified ready. Any growth within the park will have a positive impact on the community,” he said.

The industrial park is currently home to TopLot Industries, a furrier, and TransCanada Regional Storehouses, a pipeline supply depot. A third business has pledged to relocate in the park, pending development of the infrastructure. Details regarding that expansion will be announced soon.

“Citizens State Bank is committed to the success of our community. We actively encourage and promote all forms of agricultural and business related activities, which includes this important ACDC project,” said Citizens State Bank President Wayne Fischer.”The completion of the infrastructure of the industrial park coupled with the relocation and expansion of a valued member of the Arlington business community will have a very positive impact for years to come.”