Logistics Park, jobs coming to Newton

The Kansas Logistics Park is starting to resemble a high-speed express train, and Tuesday night the Newton City Commission chose to jump aboard.

The city entered into an agreement with Tindall Corp. of Spartanburg, S.C., effectively making the Logistics Park a reality.

“Tonight is a defining moment in the history of Newton,” city commissioner Willis Heck said. “As this project moves forward, it has great potential for Harvey County and the city of Newton.”

Tindall Corp. agreed to a real estate purchase agreement for 144 acres east of the current Newton Industrial Park.

The company announced intentions to build a 150,000- to 200,000-square-foot facility that would employ 200 people in the first year of operations with a payroll of $11 million, expanding to 405 employees by the end of the third year of operations.

The company will manufacture a new type of concrete and steel base for wind turbine towers, one that allows wind farms to construct higher towers to make electricity generation more efficient.

“This has been a fun project for us,” said Bill Lowndes, CEO of Tindall Corp. “After a hard look and examination of the people and places where this could go, it looks like Newton was the clear winner.”

Newton was not the only winner Tuesday — the state of Kansas can declare a victory during uncertain economic times.

“Today’s announcement that another renowned company has chosen Kansas for a new renewable energy manufacturing facility is great news for the entire state,” Gov. Mark Parkinson said in a news release. “Tindall is an excellent company that will bring hundreds of good-paying jobs to Harvey County and facilitate Kansas’ wind energy potential. This news is also further evidence that our state’s investment in high-quality infrastructure pays off.

Companies of this magnitude look closely at the quality of our roads and rail systems, schools and worker training programs. To continue to attract companies like Tindall to Kansas, it is important that we invest in areas that drive business development.”

The proposed facility would boast an annual payroll of $21 million by the end of the third year of operation. Tindall anticipates investing more than $65 million in construction of the facility.

As part of the agreement with the city, the first 100 acres of a 144-acre site will be provided at no cost, with the remaining acreage sold at a rate of $8,000 per acre.

Tindall will provide a $100,000 earnest money payment.

Closure of the real estate contract is slated for no later than June 1, 2010, although officials expect it to proceed sooner.

City attorney Bob Myers told commissioners Tuesday Tindall already has expressed an interest in more ground.

According to a news release from the city, Tindall is one of the largest privately held pre-case manufacturing companies in the nation with five existing facilities throughout the South and Mid-Atlantic region.

The company reviewed sites throughout the Midwest before settling on the yet-to-open Kansas Logistics Park.

“You have a very favorable railroad situation,” Lowndes said. “Direct access to both main lines. This is a great town with great people and we were very welcome here.”

Lowndes said in a perfect world construction on the facility would begin tomorrow, but realistically construction should begin prior to April of 2011.

Both Tindall and the Kansas Logistics Park will have plenty of work to do before construction can begin.

Part of that will be seeing what incentives may be available from the county and state governments.

“I am excited and pleased with the leadership in our community,” said Mickey Fornaro-Dean, director of the Harvey County Economic Development Council. “They have been invaluable.”

Tuesday’s agreement was limited to the real estate purchase.

Some of the necessary work by the city began Tuesday night, when the council passed a resolution to begin collecting easements for a sewer line to pass under Interstate 135 and into the area of the logistics park.

Tuesday night’s announcement was much sooner than most expected — the public announcement of the logistics park proposal to local governments was only two weeks ago.

“At that meeting, the discussion (was) that we have to think not in terms of the speed of government but we have to think in terms of the speed of business,” Myers said. “And, even at that, I don’t think we anticipated that in two weeks we would be having this discussion.”

“At that meeting, we were talking in terms of ‘If you build it, they will come,” he said. “Well, here they are.”