Municipal Wastewater Infrastructure - Key Business Attraction Tool

For industries that use large quantities of water, municipal wastewater infrastructure availability rose to the top of priorities.

The redevelopment of Portage Point Inn in Manistee County hinges on the site connecting to a proposed municipal wastewater system. Municipal partners plan to seek federal funds to support the project. Courtesy Photo​

When  Clemens Food Group  began searching for a site to house its new 550,000-square-foot pork processing facility, access to wastewater capacity emerged as its top requirement. 

Finding a community with ample capacity to treat the 3 million gallons of wastewater its new facility would generate on a weekly basis took precedent over individual site selection, incentives and other economic development tools, according to executives. Clemens also looked for communities that had a willingness to expand their wastewater systems in the future. 

“For our industry that uses larger quantities of water than maybe other industries, wastewater rose to the top for us as being that number one area we looked at for infrastructure availability,” said Eric Patton, senior vice president at Hatfield, Pa.-based Clemens Food Group.

“Because wastewater is heavily associated with capital expenditures, typically we find (capacity) is sufficient for (municipalities’) needs at that time, but they do not have additional capacity to allow future growth. They may be willing to expand, but the time associated with that is generally very problematic when you’re going through the process of identifying a site for a new facility.”

Ultimately, Clemens Food Group chose Coldwater, a small city roughly 50 miles southeast of Kalamazoo, for its $255 million facility, which will bring 800 jobs to the community when it comes online this fall. 

“Coldwater did a wonderful job of attracting us to the area and facilitating various parts of the project to meet our needs,” Patton said. “They were a true partner in attracting us and helping us bring this project together.” 

Clemens’ decision to locate in Coldwater underscores a larger theme of the growing importance of wastewater infrastructure when it comes to economic development, particularly for rural communities. 

“It’s a prerequisite to have wastewater capacity,” said Paul Beckhusen, director of the Coldwater Board of Public Utilities and a point person on the Clemens project. “You can’t go out and sell yourself as something you’re not. In the utility business, you have to look multiple years down the road. If you don’t have the infrastructure, you’re going to miss the opportunities.” 

Beckhusen worked closely to connect Coldwater’s wastewater treatment plant with Clemens Food Group, which sits approximately five miles away. Coldwater also is “getting its ducks in a row” to grow its municipal wastewater facility, as Clemens expects to expand its facility in five years. 

EMPLOYING EXISTING CAPACITY 

While small communities focus on increasing access to municipal wastewater, larger municipalities are recruiting businesses to their region by marketing their systems’ excess capacity. 

Jonathan Wilson, an economic development coordinator for Muskegon County, said one of his primary jobs is to develop Muskegon’s wastewater system and attract new users to the region. 

The county has roughly 30 million gallons of excess wastewater capacity daily, which is primarily the result of large industrial facilities closing in past decades.

To employ that capacity again, Wilson is targeting a variety of companies, particularly those in the food processing and related industries. 

“We bring in a large amount of hog waste,” Wilson said. “We have hog waste trucks come from all over the state, as far as Detroit, on a monthly basis that drop off waste directly.” 

Read more at: MiBiz