South Dakota now has five communities with sites that are certified and ready for development under the South Dakota Certified Ready Sites
(CRS) program.
North Sioux City, Aberdeen, Madison, Colman and Arlington recently were approved under the last certification cycle, and can now market their sites as ready for development.
"One of the best ways to get y
our community on a business's short list is to have a site that is ready for development," said GOED Commissioner Scott Stern. "The Certified Ready program assures companies that th
ey are receiving the most accurate, detailed information about the site including availability, utilities, access and environmental concerns."
In 2016, the CRS program added some additional requirements - soil borings and an archaeological assessment - to the certification requirements. As a result, some formerly certified sites had to undergo additional work to be re-certified.
However, with the new certifications comes new marketing opportunities.
GOED is partnering with ISG, an architectural firm, to draw new attention to South Dakota's certified sites.The newly re-certified sites will receive a full assessment to best utilize their site, have drone footage shot to highlight the sites amenities, and will receive digital and/or print marketing materials tailored to the site.
"This is really unlike anything we have ever done before," said Stern. "It is going to be exciting to see the potential of our state's certified sites blasted out and marketed in a whole new way."
