The “it” being the new Calhoun County Business Park, and the “they” being new industries and businesses to the region.

The Calhoun County Business Park will be a 115-acre business and industrial park with a total of 19 lots once it is fully built. Thursday’s groundbreaking kicked off the first phase, which will be building 232nd Street and setting up three lots and one outlot. It is the first rural business park located right on four-lane U.S. Highway 20. The site is located in a federally-designated Opportunity Zone and in a locally-designated urban renewal area.

The land for the business park was purchased in May 2020 from Babbitt Family Farms LLC for $448,922, according to records from the Calhoun County Assessor’s Office.

A RISE Grant from the Iowa Department of Transportation will help fund the construction of the new road that will lead into the business park.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Debi Durham, executive director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority, delivers remarks about the new Calhoun County Business Park that broke ground north of Rockwell City on Thursday afternoon.

“This business park shows how public, private and government entities can work together for the betterment of the community,” Legore said. “Hard work and persistence … took what was an idea and made it a reality.”

This project shows the commitment these entities have for rural development, said Jim Vermeer, vice president of business development for the Corn Belt Power Cooperative.

The project was headed by Jill Heisterkamp, executive director of the Calhoun County Economic Development Corporation. This has been something she’s been wanting to accomplish since she became executive director in 2016, she said.

“The idea may have been easy, but putting the project in motion has been more of a relay marathon than a sprint,” Heisterkamp said.

She noted that this entire project has been speculative — the CCEDC doesn’t have any businesses waiting in the wings to fill the business park and bring quality jobs to the residents of Calhoun County. But instead, they brainstormed ways to get the project rolling and to recruit businesses and industries to the park. The CCEDC does have one business interested in buying one of the lots in phase 1 of the project, Heisterkamp added.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Carl Legore, Calhoun County supervisor, said in his remarks that this new business park being built north of Rockwell City will signal to industries that "Calhoun County is open for business."

Debi Durham, executive director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority, said she can’t wait to see the vision for this business park realized and congratulated the parties involved for putting together this “significant opportunity” for Calhoun County and the state of Iowa.

“We think big and we work together to make big things happen,” she said.

There’s still a lot of work to do to get this business park up and running.

“This isn’t the finish line,” said Rand Fisher, president of the Iowa Area Development Group. “This is the starting point. Now the work really begins. We’ve got to market this terrific asset and all of you can help play a role in doing that.”

Legore again borrowed a little something from “Field of Dreams” during his remarks.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Jill Heisterkamp, executive director of the Calhoun County Economic Development Corp., opens the groundbreaking ceremony for a new 115-acre business park located at the intersection of U.S. Highway 20 and Highway 4, just north of Rockwell City, on Thursday afternoon.

“Is this heaven?” he asked. “No, it’s Calhoun County — and we’re open for business.”