Big firm may locate in park at Airport

POCATELLO — Plans to develop an industrial park at the Pocatello Regional Airport, stalled on the tarmac since the 1970s, may finally be taking off.

Airport Director David Allen said the city is close to landing a large manufacturer that would build a facility encompassing a total of 135,000 square feet on a 20-acre site.

Furthermore, on Friday, Allen sent a final version of a lease to operate at the airport to Petersen Inc., which announced plans in June to relocate to the industrial park. Petersen, a metal-fabrication company currently housed at the Gateway Industrial Park, has already dug test wells to determine what builders may experience as they dig to build a foundation.

The land has already been surveyed, and the start of construction on the Petersen facility is imminent, Allen said.

Allen said Petersen’s decision has clearly influenced the potential tenant.

“I’m probably about 90 percent complete,” Allen said of the negotiations. “There are no show-stoppers that we know of. I think this is really going to happen.”

Allen said it’s too early to disclose the identity of the potential tenant, or even the nature of what the tenant would manufacture, due to the possibility that revealing too much information could compromise negotiations. He said Bannock Development Corp. has been in the recruitment effort. He anticipates an announcement will be forthcoming before the end of the year, and possibly as early as within a couple of months.

The manufacturer would not make products related to the aviation industry.

Mayor Brian Blad said two or three businesses, all of which utilize clean manufacturing processes, began eyeing the airport’s industrial park after Petersen’s announcement.

Allen said the city now plans to expand a tax increment financing district created when Hoku Materials initially build at the airport to accommodate future growth. About two-thirds of the 1,200-acre industrial park would be encompassed by the expanded TIF district.

In TIF districts, tax dollars generated by business improvements are diverted from the normal tax rolls and are used to cover the cost of infrastructure to serve those businesses.
“It’s a big facility,” Allen said. “Between this one and Petersen, it’s going to change everything at the airport. In fact, I think it’s going to bust everything wide open in terms of future development at the airport. This really is going to make the difference.”

Blad noted development at the airport benefits every community in the region. The Power County Commission, for example, has passed a motion vowing to assist with the TIF district and support development at the airport in any way possible. Blad also recognizes that the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes have an interest in the airport, and working with them will be imperative for the industrial park to be successful.

“They recognize that it needs to be developed out there. We’ll address their concerns when we do,” Blad said, adding the city and other entities have been meeting with the tribes to discuss issues including the airport and jurisdictional concerns. “To develop the airport is going to be beneficial to the tribes, to the cities of Chubbuck and Pocatello and to Power County. And most people who will be employed there will be from Bannock County.

“If we want to make the airport bigger and have more flights come out of there, we’ve got to develop it.”