The Halifax County Corporate Park is now a certified industrial park.

While it may seem just a title for the 700 acres of land off Highway 561, adjacent to the Halifax-Northampton Regional Airport, the designation holds weight with prospective clients, Halifax County Economic Development Director Cathy Scott said today.

“We get a lot of inquiries from clients who want a site that meets all their requirements,” Scott said.

That the site is now certified, something which took 18 months to claim, means the park has water, sewer, gas and fiber lines for communications.

Under old standards, for a site to be certified meant having capacity to handle 300,000 gallons of sewage. Those standard have increased under the certification approved by the state Department of Commerce for the park, Scott said.

The county will advertise the site as a certified industrial park with billboards on Interstate 95.

The park's location next to the airport is also a plus, Scott said. “Having an airport adjacent to it is a drawing card. Being able to drive from the corporate park to the airport is impressive.”

In a press release announcing the certification, Scott called the designation a new tool to enhance its competitiveness in attracting new business and industry investments.

This designation means that the park has undergone an arduous and in-depth review by professional engineers and other specialists who have conducted environmental site studies, topographical analysis, geotechnical studies and a multitude of other assessments and tests required by the program, the news release said.

“The Department of Commerce’s Certified Sites Program showcases premium business and industrial locations that are 'client-ready' sites and improve North Carolina’s competitive edge in business and industry recruitment,” Scott said in the press release. “The guidelines for the program were revised in 2009 which raised the standards for certification to meet the level of detail and information expected from site consultants and companies.”

Rick Gilstrap, chair of the county economic development commission, said the site, “Has all the attributes to be successful for development. Our hope is that the park’s client-ready designation will give Halifax County a competitive edge when companies and site selectors are choosing locations.”

Construction is now under way on an internal access road as well as extension of sewer lines to serve the park.

In November, Empire Foods and Halifax County broke ground for the company’s food processing facility. Construction of Empire Foods facility is slated to begin this month.

“This is just another example of our organizations working together for the betterment of our community,” said James Pierce, chairman of the Halifax County Board of Commissioners. “Beginning with the purchase of the land by the Board of Commissioners; Halifax County Business Horizons, Roanoke Electric and North Carolina’s Northeast Commission pledged their resources to secure the engineers and other specialists needed to assist the Halifax Development Commission in completing the certification requirements. This has truly been a partnership effort.”

A grand opening for the Halifax Corporate Park will be planned for late summer.