Wisdom of spec building now clear
When members of the Industrial Development Board made up their minds several years ago to construct a spec building for the county, they did so with great vision and planning.
Some two years after completion, it’s easy to see the wisdom of those board members now that the spec building has been leased to Morrison Tool & Fab owner Ron Wilson — and virtually at a moment’s notice.
Taking a glance at the situation, the spec building served its purpose perfectly. It’s intent is to be a shell of a building which still lacks the final touches. By having an almost-finished structure in place, it allows prospective businesses to get a good idea of the facility available while making the final specifications fit their individual needs.
Industrial development officials throughout the state have constructed spec buildings with the idea of enticing industry to locate in their area. If a business needs to set up shop and begin operations in a hurry, a spec building takes away months – possibly a year – of construction time.
With that general overview in place, we can see how such a scenario took place in Warren County – and the county will have approximately 225 new jobs because of it. And as we are all well aware, that many jobs aren’t easy to uncover in today’s tight economic market.
Wilson needed a new building in which to expand and he needed it in a jiffy. One of his main competitors in the automotive industry went bankrupt and Morrison Tool & Fab was unexpectedly in position for a sudden burst of new job contracts.
Wilson admits he would never have had time to wait for a new facility to be constructed if the spec building wasn’t waiting with open arms just down the road from his current location. That means Warren County would have been forced to kiss all the new jobs goodbye Wilson is on the verge of creating.
With that said, the Industrial Development Board would be wise to get plans for a second spec building under way as soon as possible. In today’s slumping economic times, Warren County needs every edge we can get.
Granted, it is easy to get discouraged and question if the county did the right thing when a spec building sits vacant for months at a time. And when those months turn into years, the second guessing is quick to follow.
But all that can be tossed out the window when a deal is finalized to unite our spec building with a new tenant and unite this county’s workforce with some much-needed jobs. Warren County was prepared and that preparation has paid off.
Now the trick is to keep the momentum going. It’s true that new industry is rarely looking to relocate – unless that relocation is south of the border – but at the same time we must stay on our toes.
We’re confident Industrial Development Board members and county commissioners have a full understanding of the situation and are prepared to move in the right direction.
We never know when new jobs may be prepared to move into Warren County. We do know in order to land those jobs we must be ready to pounce and a new spec building puts this area in the best position to land new jobs.