LED CERTIFIED INDUSTRIAL PARK- A new 135 acre industrial tract in North Shreveport has been designated as an LED Certified Site. Officials gathered at the Northwest Louisiana Technical Community College campus off North Market yesterday for a ribbon cutting ceremony marking the occasion.
The Department of Louisiana Economic Development collaborated with the property owner to make the 135 acres “shovel-ready” for businesses to locate operations there. The North Louisiana Economic Partnership sponsored Hunter Industrial Park for inclusion in the certified sites program, NLEP’s Scott Martinez explained what went in to getting the site certified.
"All the phase I environmental studies has been done, geo-technical studies have been done," Martinez said. "A historic assessment has been done to make sure there's no sensitive sites as far as archaeological finds. It basically says this is a 'clean site', it's ready for development."
The 135 acre industrial site is not far from Northwest Louisiana Technical Community College. Something Chancellor, Earl Meador sees as an advantage for businesses who need qualified, workforce ready employees.
"If they (businesses) come to us and they're making a 'widget' that's never been made before; we're going to figure out how to train the people to make those widgets," Meador explained.
Cost for getting the Hunter Industrial Park certified were shared by the property owner and Louisiana Economic Development with LED paying 75% of approximately $70,000. The park’s location to I-220, I-49 and I-20 along with utilities in place are touted as making it quite attractive to companies wanting to locate in NW Louisiana.