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Fairfield Economic Development Association cuts ribbon on shell building Thursday
FAIRFIELD - Fairfield Economic Development Association hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday, Oct. 24, for its new 30,000-square foot shell building on the south side of Fairfield.
The building, measuring 100 feet by 300 feet with walls 27 feet high, is located at 405 E. 227th St., next to the Iowa Department of Transportation's maintenance shop. The structure is a metal frame with two large overhead doors. The flooring was left unfinished to accommodate a variety of businesses that want to purchase the building.
The structure is the result of a collaborative effort between many groups such as FEDA, the City of Fairfield, Jefferson County, Access Energy Cooperative, United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development, Northeast Power and others.
The ceremony featured speeches by FEDA Executive Cirector Joshua Laraby, Fairfield Mayor Ed Malloy, Agri-Industrial Plastics President Lori Schaefer-Weaton, FEDA board President Tim Kuiken, and out of town guests, too. The visitors included Bruce Nuzum of Iowa Area Development Group, Grant Menke of USDA Rural Development, and Debi Durham of Iowa Economic Development Authority.
The building sits on a 3-acre parcel of land within FEDA's 61-acre Business & Industrial Park, land it purchased in 2015 from Gene Copeland. The land is conveniently located near the intersection of Highway 1 and Highway 34.
Kuiken explained that FEDA has been interested in constructing a shell building for the past 10 years. It chose to build it in the Business & Industrial Park because FEDA's other industrial park, on the west side of town, is nearly full from so much expansion and new construction.
FEDA has had great success with its last shell building, erected in the west industrial park in the 1980s, which incubated three businesses still here today: TrafFix Devices, H & H Mold and Fairfield Industries. Eventually, TrafFix acquired the whole building, and the other two businesses found other homes. Those three businesses combined employ more than 150 people.
The new shell building just unveiled already has access to the town's water and sanitary sewer, along with three-phase electricity through Access Energy, a big selling-point to manufacturing firms and others with high power needs. The building also sits just off the newly paved 227th Street, a joint effort between the city, county and Iowa DOT.
The shell building was manufactured by Ceco Building Systems of Mt. Pleasant, and Schaus-Vorhies Contracting of Fairfield was awarded the role of general contractor.
Kuiken is in his ninth and final year as a FEDA board member. He spoke about how exciting it was to see a plan years in the making come to fruition. He said the city and county coming together to pave 227th in 2018 made constructing a shell building there much more feasible.
Laraby said construction on the building was completed in September, right on schedule, six months after ground was broken in March.
USDA Rural Development awarded $300,000 to Access Energy's revolving loan fund. To get that money, Access Energy matched that grant by putting $60,000 in the revolving loan fund. FEDA borrowed those funds and additional money from the city and county to construct the building. Laraby added that FEDA also contributed funds to the project.
The guest speakers at Thursday's ribbon-cutting spoke highly of Fairfield and its positive outlook. The U.S. Census Bureau has estimated that Jefferson County has grown by more than 9 percent since the 2010 Census. Mayor Ed Malloy noted it was the strongest growth of any rural county in the state. He said that Fairfield is well poised to take advantage of a growing population with a new or existing business expanding into the shell building.
Debi Durham congratulated Fairfield on building a 'destination people want to visit and live in.” She spoke about how the website Expedia.com announced that Fairfield was one of the best places to escape to, even in January.
Durham talked about how important manufacturing is to Iowa's economy and Fairfield's economy, employing 1,100 people in the city.
'This spec building makes Fairfield attractive to new businesses,” said Durham, adding 'Thank you to big-thinking Fairfield.”
Union photo by Andy Hallman Bruce Nuzum, vice president of finance at Iowa Area Development Group, speaks at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Fairfield Economic Development Association's 30,000 square foot shell building Oct. 24 in Fairfield.
Union photo by Andy Hallman Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority, tells the crowd gathered at the new shell building Oct. 24 that Fairfield is creating a destination people want to visit and move to.
Union photo by Andy Hallman Fairfield Mayor Ed Malloy speaks on Fairfield's terrific population growth of over 9 percent since the 2010 Census and how the town is well positioned for economic growth, too, like inviting a new or existing business to move into the 30,000-square foot shell building unveiled Thursday, Oct. 24.
Union photo by Andy Hallman Grant Menke of USDA Rural Development speaks during the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new shell building on the south side of Fairfield Oct. 24.
Union photo by Andy Hallman The new shell building in Fairfield measures 100 feet by 300 feet and has walls that are 27 feet tall. Its floor was left unfinished to accommodate the needs of various businesses that may wish to move in.
Union photo by Andy Hallman Fairfield Economic Development Association executive director Joshua Laraby welcomes a crowd of a few dozen people to the new shell building on the south side of Fairfield on Thursday, Oct. 24.
Union photo by Andy Hallman President of Agri-Industrial Plastics Lori Schaefer-Weaton speaks during the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the FEDA shell building.
Union photo by Andy Hallman Fairfield Economic Development Association executive director Joshua Laraby and Fairfield Mayor Ed Malloy use a giant pair of scissors to cut the ribbon on the new FEDA shell building Thursday, Oct. 24.
Union photo by Andy Hallman A view of the 30,000-square foot shell building as seen from the south, on 227th Street.
Union photo by Andy Hallman Rene Holmberg used his drone to take photographs of the new shell building during the ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday, Oct. 24.
Union photo by Andy Hallman Fairfield Economic Development Association board President Tim Kuiken speaks during the ribbon-cutting ceremony on the new shell building in FEDA's Business & Industrial Park.
