City leaders look for dirt

When Bernie Andrews, president of Regional Economic Development Inc., took inventory of what industries chose to

expand or relocate in Columbia over the past decade as well as those that passed it by, he found that companies that

chose a different location did so for the same reasons: cheaper land and "shovel-ready" sites.

A shovel-ready site is a land ready to be developed, with the proper zoning and utilities in place.

Andrews’ report includes a list of companies that considered Columbia/Boone County for major projects between 1997

and 2007, what they were looking for and whether they selected the area to relocate.

The memo, although not an exhaustive list of projects, gives a snapshot of how the area has fared in attracting

companies. It said in those 10 years:

Of those that decided against the area, five cited problems such as the availability of a shovel-ready site, a lack of local

incentives, inadequate airline service and costly infrastructure needs. The remaining three said they decided not to do the

projects because of economic downturns in their businesses.

According to the report, most of the 32 companies that chose Columbia to relocate or expand, such as the 2004

expansion of State Farm Insurance Cos., did so because they had an existing facility or a strong connection to the area,

were able to find an existing facility or did not require local incentives.

Although the area got numerous leads and projects looking for 20- to 50-acre sites during the 10-year period, Andrews

said, Columbia/Boone County didn’t get on the short list for any of them. This is the area’s greatest need, he said,

because it’s the size of site other communities are developing as shovel-ready.

"Other communities have public/private partnerships that buy land, put infrastructure in place and sell it at cost," Andrews

said. "Here, our sites are basically put in place by private developers who can’t compete because they’ve got to make a

profit."

To help remedy this situation, the Columbia Area Jobs Foundation was formed last month as a not-for-profit group to

purchase and develop sites with infrastructure and zoning in place.

As a not-for-profit, Andrews said, the jobs foundation will be able to accept land donations, raise funds from the

community and work with utility providers to help provide infrastructure to sites it acquires.

Fifth Ward Councilwoman Laura Nauser said the foundation is one of many steps the city and county must take toward

creating public-private partnerships to increase economic development opportunities that create jobs and bring outside

money to the local economy. The fall announcement of Columbia’s 3M plant laying off almost half of its work force,

Nauser said, is one indication the city has to boost its efforts.

"In the past, we have very heavily relied upon the University" of Missouri "and its ancillary functions," Nauser said. "It’s a

great business partner, but from a city perspective, I think we’ve relied too heavily on it and haven’t done any of our own

economic planning."

The city’s inclusion of $3 million to extend sewer to economic development sites in its recent sewer ballot issue is a step

in the right direction, Nauser said, but the city needs to look at more ways to attract businesses where it wants them.