PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release Tuesday, May 2, 2006

Contact: Noel LaBine 763-477-3086

Wright County Partnership Held a Development Seminar Luncheon

on Industrial Park Activity & Projections for Wright County in 2006.     

   

  The Wright County Economic Development Partnership held a Development Seminar Series Luncheon on Industrial Park Activity & Projections for Wright County at Russell's (of course) in St. Michael on Wednesday, April 12 th . The event will started at 11:30 a.m. and a chicken lunch was served to all of the attendees.

  The keynote speakers were a group from CB Richard Ellis including Whitney Peyton, Matt Oelschlager, and Dan Swartz. The topic was “Industrial Park Activity & Projections for Wright County in 2006”. WSB & Associates was the sponsor of this event.

  Whitney Peyton, CBRE, started the presentation with an overview of what is happening in the industrial and commercial development industry in the Metro Area. It is obvious from the data that there is a positive trend underway. In 2005 the U.S. economy enjoyed solid growth and considerable new job creation. Increases in trade, manufacturing production, and space demand energized the market resurgence. Industrial space absorption increase. In Minneapolis / St. Paul area there was 7.35 million square feet of positive industrial absorption in 2005. The amount of available space dropped to 7.72%, and the vacany rate for the fourth quarter of 2005 was down to 5.58%.

  Dan Swartz, CBRE, picked up the discussion about the NW sector of the Metro area market. In this sector the market is even more robust with available space down to 7.75% of the total space and vacancy rates down to 4.95%. Construction of new space in the NW sector has been steady for the last two years, and already in the first quarter of 2006 a commitment to new space is already half of the total space built last year. In the words of Whitney Peyton, “There is a lot of need for space to take things out of big boxes (sic: containters) and put them into smaller boxes for distribution.”

  Matt Oelschlager, CBRE, ended the presentation with reasons why Wright County is a desirable place for industrial development. Basically, he outlined four points. One, there is available land and a competitive price relative to Hennepin County . Two, there is access to transportation. Three, there is an available workforce, and four, there are available infrastructures and services in place. Nevertheless, there is some uncertainty in the market, as always. The biggest problems are rising land costs, construction costs, and diminishing investment returns. However, at this time continued development along transportation corridors will continue, and land speculation will continue. Some developers are being more cautious than others, but the activity is still noteworthy.

  The session was wrapped up with a question and answer period. Several people waited until after the presentation to discussion more private questions and concerns with the presenters.

  The Wright County Partnership's Development Series Luncheons are a great place to network with community leaders from Wright County and get first-hand information about various development activities. The discussions held at these events have been very valuable to developers, city representatives, and others.

Future events will include a Retail Activity Analysis seminar on May 10 th . Developers from Shingobee Builders will be presenting at the May 10 th event. On June10th a seminar on “Wastewater treatment plant expansions; what is the law and what are the options” will be presented at Reichel's Banquet Center in Annandale .

   The Partnership exists to enhance the business climate of Wright County and to help create more jobs in Wright County . The strategies the Partnership uses to achieve its mission include being an information resource and finding technical assistance; aiding business development through Business Retention & Expansion visits, providing financing resources, and providing business information and training through seminars and workshops. Also, the Partnership markets Wright County to business site locators, and maintains an excellent website, which includes a listing of commercial and industrial property available in Wright County (see www.wrightpartnership.org ). The Partnership also assists with Workforce Development and has gathered economic statistical information, which is available on its website.