South Dakota Ag Connection - Five Sites Re-certified Under South Dakota Certified Ready Program

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Five Sites Re-certified Under South Dakota Certified Ready Program
South Dakota Ag Connection - 08/21/2018

The South Dakota Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) announced that five communities in South Dakota have re-certified their development sites under the South Dakota Certified Ready Program. The communities include: Aberdeen, Arlington, Colman, Madison and North Sioux City.

"One of the best ways to get your community on a business's short list is to have a site that is ready for development," said GOED Commissioner Scott Stern. "The Certified Ready program assures companies that they are receiving the most accurate, detailed information about the site including availability, utilities, access and environmental concerns."

In 2016, the CRS program added additional requirements--soil borings and an archaeological assessment--to the certification requirements. As a result, several sites that were formerly certified needed to undergo additional work to be re-certified.

However, with the new certifications comes new marketing opportunities.

GOED is partnering with ISG, an architectural firm that recently expanded its operations to downtown Sioux Falls, to draw new attention to South Dakota's certified sites. The newly re-certified sites will receive a full assessment to best utilize their site, have drone footage shot to highlight the sites amenities, and will receive digital and/or print marketing materials tailored to the site.

"This is really unlike anything we have ever done before," Stern added. "It is going to be exciting to see the potential of our state's certified sites blasted out and marketed in a whole new way."

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