A new Build-Ready location in Rowan County will add to the commonwealth’s site development and speed-to-market efforts.
The site at John Will Stacy MMRC Regional Industrial Park, located on Rocky Adkins Tech Drive in Morehead, adds to the state’s growing list of properties that have been certified by the Cabinet for Economic Development as Build-Ready.
These sites are available across the state for companies looking to locate in the commonwealth and start construction and operations quickly.
Rowan County Judge/Executive Harry Clark highlighted the multiple sites available for future businesses to locate and grow in the area.
“The completion of our second Build-Ready site at the MMRC Regional Industrial Park underscores our commitment to economic development and job creation in our region,” Clark said. “This 100,000-square-foot pad on a 6-acre site, along with our other 150,000-square-foot site on a 24-acre lot, provides versatile options for future investors.
“KPDI has been instrumental in enhancing these industrial sites, positioning us to attract significant investments and bolster economic growth by providing more well-paying jobs for our community,” Clark added.
The new site includes 6.5 acres zoned for industrial use located along Kentucky Highway 801 South, just 2.5 miles from the Morehead-Rowan County Airport. On-site utilities include a four-inch gas line, eight-inch sewer line and a 16-inch waterline.
Fleming Mason Energy provides electric service to the site, and natural gas is provided by Delta Natural Gas. The site is also serviced with fiber-optic lines for telecommunications.
The industrial park has also benefited from state support through multiple Kentucky Product Development Initiative (KPDI) projects including infrastructure upgrades and land acquisition.
In 2022, Rowan County was approved for $212,500 in state support through the pilot PDI program toward construction of a building pad-ready site. In 2023, KPDI provided $599,414 in funding to support the purchase of 238 acres along Rodney Hitch Boulevard for industrial use.
Also in 2023, a regional project with support from Rowan, Menifee and Morgan counties was approved for $148,578 to perform infrastructure improvements at the industrial park. And just last week, $814,379 in state support was approved as community leaders seek to acquire an 80-acre tract of land for industrial development purposes.
Menifee County Judge/Executive Rick Stiltner is excited to see the impact the site has on the community.
“These large and medium Build-Ready sites will allow our community to continue to promote and grow the region for industrial jobs for the constituents we serve,” Stiltner said.
Jason Slone, president and CEO of Morehead-Rowan County Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development, noted the future improvements and economic growth the project will bring: “KPDI represents a significant commitment to enhancing industrial sites across the state, fostering economic growth and job creation. This addition to the MMRC Regional Industrial Park has allowed us to create our second Build-Ready site, offering both a large and medium site to help foster future investments and job creation to serve Northeastern Kentucky and the I-64 corridor.”
With a Build-Ready site, much of the work – aside from construction – has already been completed. That includes controlling the land to be developed, completing archaeological, environmental and geotechnical studies, constructing a building pad, finishing preliminary design work, obtaining approved site plan permits and putting necessary infrastructure in place. On a Build-Ready site, construction can begin immediately.
To be Build-Ready-certified, a site must include a pad ready to accommodate a building of 50,000 square feet with the ability to expand to 100,000 square feet or more – and utilities extending to the site. Applicants – usually a city, county or economic development group – must have previously filed the necessary permits, as well as preliminary building plans, cost estimates and schedule projections. Applicants also are asked to provide a rendering of a potential building for the site.
With this new site in Rowan County, the commonwealth is now home to roughly 22 available Build-Ready sites. Multiple other locations across the state are currently working toward certification.
To date, 11 former Build-Ready-certified sites – including tracts located in Barren, Butler, Christian, Graves, Hart and Laurel counties and five sites in Warren County – have been selected by companies for new location projects, allowing companies to bring their operations online in a cost-efficient manner while creating jobs for local Kentuckians.
Gov. Beshear has announced some of the largest economic development projects in state history: Ford Motor Co. and SK On’s transformative $5.8 billion, 5,000-job BlueOval SK Battery Park in Hardin County; AESC’s $2 billion, 2,000-job gigafactory project in Warren County; Toyota’s $1.3 billion investment in Scott County; and INFAC North America’s $53 million investment in Taylor County, among others.
Gov. Beshear announced a “Supply Kentucky” initiative with the goal of boosting job growth, reducing costs and providing more security in the supply chains of our Kentucky companies.
For more information on Build-Ready sites in Kentucky, visit CED.ky.gov/BuildReady.
A detailed community profile for Rowan County can be viewed here.
