Sell 4 Free Real Estate
Dubois Strong Focuses on Regional Economic Growth
Dubois Strong Economic Development Corporation has presented their Annual Report, with a
strategic focus on regional employment and housing.
Executive Director Colten Pipenger said that, in order to promote local economic growth, the
organization will concentrate on business attraction and retention, infrastructure requirements
for incoming businesses, housing development, and community branding efforts.
In attracting businesses, he emphasized the critical role of site readiness, including
infrastructure availability (water, power, sewer), and target sector recruitment. Data showed
that projects increasingly demand large land areas and significant utilities capacity, including
electric loads up to 44 megawatts. These were not inclusive of data centers, which were
excluded from the analysis. Such high-resource requirements highlight the need for proactive
city infrastructure planning to capture economic opportunities.
The report tied housing stock diversity directly to workforce availability. New housing projects
are leasing quickly, even before construction is complete, indicating strong demand. Challenges
stem from outdated zoning codes, restrictive lot requirements, and expensive development
processes. Addressing these through easier variances, auxiliary dwelling units, and infill
strategies could boost housing supply, support economic growth, and raise property tax base
efficiency.
Dubois Strong has entered into a partnership with consulting firm IncCodes to address some of
these issues, specifically related to housing. The firm was engaged to perform a zoning code
review and make suggestions for modernization of local municipal zoning and building
development codes. One of the items of significance was a finding that a reduction of lot size
and setbacks could maximize potential property taxes and make better use of buildable areas
by accommodating more home construction. This could also utilize nonconforming lots that are
considered unbuildable due to current zoning codes, making them more useful for the city.
For more information on these and other updates, visit www.duboisstrong.com
- Drew Hasselbring