Seymour Airport Authority attorney Susan Bevers has been directed
by the airport board to prepare documents for submission to the Federal Aviation Administration and the Indiana Economic Development
Corp. to qualify to receive a "shovel-ready" designation from the state for a 900-acre site in Freeman Field Industrial
Park.
"Shovel-ready"
means the site has had all the necessary work completed, including surveys, zoning, environmental studies, and in-place utilities.
Other shovel-ready sites are listed on IEDC's Web site at www.indianashovelready.com.
"We will be putting
a lot of work into this, and we hope it will serve Seymour and Jackson County in the future," said airport manager
Don Furlow. "It will definitely enhance our ability to market the property."
To be eligible for the designation, Seymour Airport Authority has to apply to the state Shovel Ready
program. That process has now begun.
The initiative to have shovel-ready sites at Freeman Field began with Seymour Industrial Corp. The shovel-ready designation is a major step in attracting industry and bringing more jobs to the
area, Mayor Craig Luedeman said. "We are petitioning
the (Federal Aviation Administration) to open up about 900 acres of farmland near the airport for future industrial use,"
Luedeman said.
"With more and more companies looking for sites where they can have a shovel in the ground as quickly
as possible, this program gives Indiana an advantage when it comes to competing with other states for new investments and
new jobs," said E. Mitchell Roob Jr., state secretary of commerce and chief executive officer of IEDC. "We want
to give companies every reason to choose Indiana and expedite job creation plans as we try to grow in spite of a slow national
economy."