Incentives for a snack producer moving into the Marshall County Shell Building will be considered this evening by the Plymouth Common Council. Pretzels Inc. announced plans last week to spend $15 million to purchase and equip the building near Pioneer Drive and U.S. 30, creating 65 new jobs in the process. Continue reading
The new shell building in Plymouth is ready for occupancy.
Plymouth Mayor Mark Senter, Dan Zuerner from Garmong Construction, PIDCO Board President James Faulstich, and Mike Miley, Vice President of the Plymouth Redevelopment Commission spoke about the city’s bright future with economic development in a ribbon cutting ceremony yesterday. Officials officially welcomed the opening of the expandable 45,000 square foot building on the corner of Pioneer Drive and Commerce Street in Plymouth.
Bill Davis, Board Chairman of the Marshall County Economic Development Corporation, says the board realized that there weren’t a wealth of facilities available for potential business or industry leaders looking to begin business in the county. That’s when the shell building concept was born.
“PIDCO had the land, we had the concept, and we met with Garmong [Construction] and researched them pretty thoroughly,” said Davis. “They had done 40 or 45 of these throughout the state. We just said we’re going to have some place for a prospective client to come in and create jobs for Marshall County. Three-and-a-half years later, here we are!”
Davis says they’re getting closer to finding an occupant for the building.
“We have many prospects. They’re varied with all different kinds of industries and different pay scales. We’re pretty confident that there’s not going to be an issue with us getting a prospect into the building pretty quickly.”
Davis believes that this just a start of the potential for more economic development in Marshall County.
“We’ve already seen this happening in Argos. They bought 80 acres of land. We’ve helped them get that shovel ready, according to the state criteria. If we could get every community as engaged as Plymouth and Argos have been, I think that you’re going to see Culver, Bourbon or Bremen doing the same thing, conceptually, as what we did here.”
Three years of planning and construction of a 45,000 square foot shell building in Plymouth will be celebrated with a ribbon cutting ceremony today.
The building is the first of its kind in Marshall County. According to the Marshall County Economic Development Corporation, businesses today are searching for a site that is readily available to begin operations in a more timely manner. The shell building in Plymouth offers that opportunity. Construction of the shell building began last year.
The building can be expanded to 135,000 square feet to accommodate the needs of an interested business. The interior can easily be adapted in a short timeframe that reduces permitting and construction costs.
The Director of the Marshall County Economic Development Corporation gave the county council an update on the shell building in Plymouth.
Jerry Chavez explained that construction on the building began last year, but activity ceased as winter settled in.
“There are some items that still need to be completed but for the most part, it’s at a status where we won’t see any more work this coming winter. We’re doing what we can in terms of marketing it to prospective clients that may have an interest in expanding to Marshall County and setting up shop in Plymouth’s backyard,” said Chavez.
