The State of Indiana announced on Friday, March 13, that the 100-acre plot along Zionsville Road, which is owned by Dow Chemical Co., is on the list of 10 new economic development sites for its "Shovel Ready" program.

The land will go to the top of the list of sites available for developers looking to build on a business park.

"It's a big shot in the arm to get development started," Zionsville Town Manager Ed Mitro said. "Certainly it will bring with it a heightened level of interest."

Dow is working with Summit Realty Group executive Vice President John Demaree to develop its long-unused property. Demaree said in a fall 2008 Zionsville Redevelopment Commission meeting he hopes to have the land fully developed within three-to-five years.

The site is east of Zionsville Road, and is split in half by the new 106th Street extension. Zionsville is installing utilities around the 106th Street project, and the sewer system was designed to accommodate a business park in the area. In late 2008, the town of Zionsville provided a letter of recommendation for Dow's shovel ready application. The town is looking to increase its commercial tax base to offset its high proportion of residential taxes.

"With more and more companies looking for sites where they can have a shovel in the ground as quickly as possible, this program gives Indiana an advantage when it comes to competing with other states for new investments and new jobs," said E. Mitchell Roob Jr., Secretary of Commerce and chief executive officer of the Indiana Economic Development Corp.

In September, Demaree said Dow is looking into corporate development, such as a corporate campus. The site will need to be rezoned to research-technology, general commercial and general industrial. The area in question currently holds a I-3 heavy industrial zoning designation.

This is the fifth round of shovel ready distinctions made by the Indiana Economic Development Corp. since the program began in 2006. In addition to the 38 sites in the first four rounds, Friday's announcement included sites in Carroll, Dearborn, Gibson Jackson, Orange, Ripley, Spencer, and Tippecanoe counties.

"Communities are realizing the impact this program can have in attracting new investment," said Brad Moore, shovel ready project manager for the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. "Our steady stream of applicants is proof that the Shovel Ready program is fulfilling its mission of lowering costs and improving efficiencies in the site development process."

Zionsville will be the second Boone County town with a shovel ready site. In March 2008, Medco Health Solutions in Whitestown broke ground on the world's largest automated pharmacy, which is set to open this year. The IEDC expects that project to create about 1,300 jobs by 2012.