With Site Certification, Oregon Means Business

In February 2003, Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski established the Industrial Lands Task Force to address the state’s shortage of industrial lands. The task force concluded that the state did not suffer from a lack of industrial land per se, but rather a lack of enough “project-ready” land of the right type, in the right location, and at the right price for development.

From this, the Oregon Economic and Community Development Departments (OECDD) Certified Industrial Lands program was created. This comprehensive program assures prospective businesses that requirements are met on a site and allows construction to begin in 180 days or less.

“The process as a whole paves the way for business. It sends the message that Oregon wants industry and we are ready to work together to help companies do business here. It also protects the public interest by ensuring that environmental stewardship, land use and community concerns are resolved before a prospect steps onto the property,” Gov. Kulongoski said.

“The certification process provides developers with all the information they need to make a site decision,” said Marty Brantley, director for the OECDD. Site certification notebooks maintained by the agency contain documentation about water, sewer, electricity and other utilities available at the site; local workforce availability; easements and liens; improvements made; and any state or local development incentives that are offered for the location.

To successfully capture information, get permits and make improvements that will earn a site the “certified” stamp, a team of OECDD development officers collaborate extensively with landowners, local governments, regional development groups, and the state’s seven economic revitalization agencies. A third-party, private sector verifier serves as final, independent review for the hundreds of documents submitted to the agency in just one application for certification.

Certified industrial sites are marketed on Oregon’s site-selector website, www.oregonprospector.com, a joint effort of the state, the Oregon Economic Development Association and Pacific Power.

Currently, the OECDD has more than 150 applications under way and about 50 sites have been certified by the state and proclaimed “open for business” so far. Several of the sites in the program are also classified as “opportunity sites” — land areas identified by Oregon’s Industrial Lands Advisory Committee in 2003 as having “statewide significance for job creation.”

Program Receives U.S. EPA Grant

The U.S. EPA’s recent round of brownfield grants included a $200,000 grant to the OECDD. The agency, in cooperation with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ), will develop a process for selecting brownfields for redevelopment based on marketability and perform environmental assessments of approximately 10 brownfield sites.

The grant will help OECDD develop a strategic marketing decision tool to determine exactly what types, locations and prices commercial real estate buyers seek in industrial sites. Based on marketability, select brownfield properties will then be assessed and, if cleanup is cost-effective, placed in OECDD’s queue for certification.

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