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Kjeld Hestehave, president of recent St. George arrival Bomatic, a plastic bottle manufacturer, says the Ontario, Calif.-based company was originally approached about expansion plans a few years ago by brokers in Bakersfield.

Former Bases Keep On Truckin' Like other bases nailed by BRAC closure, the Tooele Army Depot just West of Salt Lake City had plenty of acreage and buildings when it was abandoned by the U.S. Army in 1995: 1,700 acres (688 hectares) and 2.5 million sq. ft. (232,250 sq. m.) of buildings.         Today, after negotiations took the property from city hands to those of five private-sector partners, it's called Utah Industrial Depot. The gradual upgrade of the base has included $12.5 million in cleanup and updating, a $1.3-million access road scheduled to be complete in November 2003, the installation of a new high-pressure water line and the introduction of both new fiberoptic lines and new copper conductors for the phone system. Copper isn't hard to come by, as the Kennicot Open Pit Copper Mine, the world's largest, is just over the next ridge.         That mine's activity – combined with the former base's truck tradition – has set the tone for corporate presence at the Depot. DaimlerChrysler divisions Freightliner and Detroit Diesel operate maintenance facilities on the property. Other tenants include Kalamazoo, Mich.-based Midwest Fastener, which opened its Western distribution center there in 2001, and Bucyrus Blades, the Ohio-founded division of Portland, Ore.-based ESCO Corp. Overall, the installation's 46 companies employ some 900 people, but there are still plenty of improved parcels – as well as 900 acres (364 hectares) of vacant land – awaiting development.         Another BRAC project, Business Depot Ogden, has about the same amount of space still available (1.4-million sq. ft., or 130,060 sq. m.), having recently filled some 333,000 sq. ft. (30,657 sq. m.) with tenant activity. Formerly a distribution base for the military, the 1,128-acre (457-hectare) site holds more than 6 million sq. ft. (557,400 sq. m.) of warehouse space.         Unlike Tooele, most of the property in Ogden is being conveyed to the city, which in turn has an agreement with the Boyer Company to develop the property. – Adam Bruns

        "We told them we weren't necessarily interested in expanding in California, but were looking for an area to serve the California market but be out of the state," he says. "That was just about the time the energy crisis hit California. Our criteria was least cost of power, and St. George is the one that came up with the best rate of power, and within a six-hour radius of L.A."
        How good is that rate?
        "We have an electricity bill as high as $100,000 a month here," Hestehave says of his Ontario, Calif., operation, "and we will pay $15,000 a month in St. George."
        The move will involve the shuttering of one of the California plants by the end of 2004, and maybe more if things don't improve in the Golden State.
        "If California continues on its present course, we may close the second facility," says Hestehave. "The benefits package, worker's compensation and the cost of electricity all have to go down dramatically."
        In the meantime, Bomatic has options on the property adjacent to its new St. George digs, with the potential to triple the operation's square footage. The project, built by Salt Lake City-based Okland Construction, broke ground in October 2003.

Falling Into Place

Rosenthal says the Fort Pierce park is at a unique juncture, and not just geographically.
        "All of the land in the park is owned by the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration," he explains, "so any [land] sales accomplished here benefit the schools of Utah." In addition, the city is partly involved in its development, there is on-site power from the Dixie Escalante plant, and the co-development team from the locally based Jennings-Larkin Group installed all the infrastructure.

See the SITES Utah Department of Community and Economic Development www.dced.utah.gov Colliers International ­ Utah www.colliersutah.com Washington County, Utah www.washco.state.ut.us Utah Industrial Depot www.utahid.com City of Ogden and Business Depot Ogden www.ogdencity.com

        That infrastructure plays out in other parks as well. Steton Technologies Group is establishing a headquarters at the Tonaquint Center industrial park, which will eventually house some 600,000 sq. ft. (55,740 sq. m.) of tech-oriented space in 22 buildings.
        An additional 350 acres (142 hectares) await further industrial development at Gateway Industrial Park, a 2,000-acre (809-hectare) master-planned community aimed at attracting headquarters facilities. But its first arrival was a 1.2-million-sq.-ft. (111,480-sq.-m.) Wal-Mart distribution center.
        Other pieces of the St. George scene are also falling into place. Interlinx is installing a redundant fiber-optic network for the city of St. George and surrounding areas. And St. George-based commuter airline SkyWest has signed a major agreement with United Airlines that will more than double its fleet and increase its employment by some 50 percent nationwide.
        A replacement airport may therefore be on the horizon as well, which would only be fitting – where the friendly skies meet some very business-friendly land.