Revolutionizing MidAmerica Industrial Park for Inclusive Growth
01/15/2018
Source: David Stewart
The next industrial revolution is upon us.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports there are a record 6.2 million job openings in the United States. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0, will create demand for an additional 900,000 highly skilled manufacturing workers over the next decade.
In today’s economic development market, the evolution of an industrial park into a multifaceted employment center is a cornerstone to inclusive growth in jobs and people.
In recent years, MidAmerica Industrial Park’s focus on turning innovation into implementation has sought to reduce barriers to economic advancement for students, workers, employers and local economies.
“New collar jobs” mean traditional technical skills are becoming less important, while adaptive skills — such as being able to access and use online technical information or run a control room — are becoming essential.
The most critical element to the success of an employer is the availability of a trained and skilled workforce.
To prepare the future workforce for Industry 4.0, MidAmerica provided a STEM lab to every Mayes County school district and in the coming year will add more districts in surrounding counties.
Additionally, MidAmerica partners with Rogers State University-Pryor to place a career center in the heart of the park. This career center will serve as a recruitment tool to regional high school students and as an intake center for resumes and applications for park employers.
Resources have also been committed to ensure the park can be nimble and responsive to an employers’ growth and infrastructure needs.
MidAmerica is more than simply a provider of land and infrastructure. With a considerable critical mass of more than 80 companies and an employment base of more than 4,500 people in different and diverse industry segments, the park generates $732,200,000 in wages and salaries each year in direct jobs, indirect jobs and induced effect.
MidAmerica Industrial Park wants to be known for providing the resources that a company, such as Google’s $2 billion investment, might consider as the tipping point for a site selection decision to expand or build a new facility.
Like any business, an organization must continuously evolve to not only remain relevant but also to surpass the competition.
The park recently completed an expansion of greenfields to open 400 new acres for development. MidAmerica invested $3.5 million in roads to access the sites and over $15 million to upgrade its water plant and waste treatment facilities to ensure the property is ready for new businesses. As this is a greenfield or new development without any legacy, the architecture dimension and the modeling of infrastructure followed the latest cutting-edge innovation. The park is also undergoing a master planning process to prepare and open another 600 acres for development.
The evolution of MidAmerica Industrial Park is even more evident as, along with the anticipation of these expansions, MidAmerica acquired 200 acres of adjacent land to build single and multifamily housing options.
Finally, the park’s evolution also benefits from the ready availability of water and a renewable power source such as the Grand River Dam Authority’s recently constructed high-efficiency combined cycle gas plant fueled by Oklahoma’s abundant supply of natural gas. The $500 million project is described as the most fuel efficient in the world.
Industry 4.0 presents far more opportunities than it does challenges, and MidAmerica is prepared to meet those challenges.
