BNSF Railway shows interest in making the Willmar Industrial Park its second certified site in Minnesota

Dec. 16—WILLMAR

— Exciting news for the Willmar Industrial Park was announced recently — BNSF Railway has invited the Willmar Industrial Park to become a BNSF certified site.

BNSF scouts potential sites for development, according to its website, and the BNSF Site Certification Program identifies rail-served sites that are available for development with minimal risk.

EDC Executive Director Aaron Backman shared the news during the Dec. 8 meeting of the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission Joint Operations Board, noting there are a limited number of BNSF-certified sites throughout the U.S.

Backman asked the board to endorse becoming certified, because representatives from BNSF would like to meet with the EDC soon to "kick off" the certification process.

He noted there are no fees attached to becoming certified, and BNSF will provide a consultant to walk them through the process. Some costs would be incurred while gathering the information that BNSF needs for the certification process, such as soil borings.

Backman estimates the costs would be somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000, and it is his hope that the city of Willmar would participate in the cost to complete certification.

He noted the city will benefit from the certification, there is an industrial park fund, and the cost could be split evenly between the EDC and the city.

"I think that would be a good partnership," he added.

He reminded the board that one of the first things he did when coming to the EDC in 2016 was to get the Fourth Addition to the Willmar Industrial Park certified as shovel-ready by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. That site is approximately 90 acres.

According to West Central Tribune archives, shovel-ready certification means the planning, zoning, environmental studies, title work, public infrastructure and other pre-construction work has been completed on a site, making it ready for development.

The state currently has approximately 40 DEED-certified sites.

"This is a more rarified certification," Backman said. "The good news about that is it puts us on the forefront of companies that need rail. It puts us on the forefront of companies that need distribution. It puts us on the forefront of our marketing efforts. Because, if you can say we're both certified by the state and certified (by) BNSF, that sets us apart."

BNSF's Site Certification Program identifies optimal rail-served sites and conducts in-depth reviews of 10 economic development criteria to determine if the site meets BNSF's stringent readiness standards, which are intended to minimize development risks customers may face.

BNSF's industrial site certification program supports the company's larger initiative of developing business parks and/or rail-served sites along its network, according to the BNSF website.

The sites have been reviewed by an industry expert in order to ensure accurate, reliable data. The goal of BNSF is to provide an inventory of rail-served sites that are available for immediate development, according to the website.

The certification process through BNSF takes about one year, according to Backman. It includes things like site and topography descriptions, providing information about available utilities and geotechnical work.

Backman noted a number of those things have been completed for the industrial park that can be incorporated into the certification process, but there are also more steps that need to take place.

He shared a map of the proposed certification area with the board, which includes approximately 335 acres of land.

"Why are we proposing this?" he asked. "I think it makes sense from a number of vantage points."

He explained that all of the acreage is within Willmar's municipality and it is all contiguous, adding that the location is also easy to describe — south of the new U.S. Highway 12, east of 45th Street and west of Kandiyohi County Road 5.

Another advantage of the location is a majority of it is currently unplatted, allowing for lots of different sizes and offering investors flexibility.

"If you talk to BNSF, they're not excited about a site on a rail that's 20 acres," Backman added. "This fits into their vision of a site that has sufficient land mass."

He also noted the investment of $50 million by BNSF, the city of Willmar and Minnesota Department of Transportation for the Willmar Wye project.

"Now they want a return on investment," Backman said. "One of those ways to do that is to have a certification and to market it."

There are BNSF-certified sites throughout the U.S. and one site in Canada, according to the BNSF website.

The Willmar site would be the second site in Minnesota. The other site is in Becker, between St. Cloud and the Twin Cities metro area. It is a 67-acre site adjacent to U.S. Highway 10, 10 miles away from Interstate 94 and 48 miles from Interstate 35.

There are three other regional sites — Foundation Park, a 430-acre, multi-user industrial park in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Industrial Park, a 386-acre site located in Minot, North Dakota; and Commerce Center of Southeast Iowa, a 153-acre site located within a 19,000-acre Army facility in Middletown, Iowa.

BNSF lists a number of benefits to being a certified site, including a reduction in development time, an increase in speed to market, and a reduction in upfront development risk of rail-served industrial sites.

It also lists a number of benefits for community and property owners of certified sites, including heightened interest by prospective buyers, elimination of unnecessary costs during development because risk factors are identified and reduced prior to site certification, a shortened facility construction process and an increase in awareness of a site due to it being highlighted and promoted in BNSF marketing materials and on its website.