Oct. 17—CHIPPEWA FALLS — The Stanley West Industrial Park will undergo $130,000 in renovations to make it "shovel-ready" for new companies looking to construct businesses there.

"Chippewa County has been looking at shoring up our industrial land assets," said Charlie Walker, Chippewa County Economic Development Corporation executive director. "It makes it more marketable for the next business. It shows Chippewa County's continued leadership in providing economic services, and it shows the eastern part of the county is open for business."

The Chippewa County Board voted Tuesday to spend $50,000 on the project, said County Administrator Randy Scholz. The city of Stanley also is contributing $50,000 toward the project, with private donations covering the remaining $30,000.

"It gets them to the front page with businesses looking for land," Scholz said. "Businesses are really looking for shovel-ready locations."

The business park is located along the north side of Highway 29, west of downtown. Walker said that Loyal-based Northern Elevator has just started constructing a new plant in the industrial park, leaving about 101 acres in the park. By getting the park shovel-ready, that includes removing about 20 acres of wetlands, hopefully leaving about 80 acres of buildable property, Walker said.

Scholz said it is a good investment for the county.

"It does cost money, because they are doing some drilling and collecting soil samples, to make sure there is no contamination," Scholz explained. "But at the end of the day, it really pays off."

The county's share will come from the land development fund.