Mountain Home Moves Forward with Industrial Park Plans

The City of Mountain Home has taken another step toward realizing its goal of attracting new industry and creating a wide variety of new employment opportunities for residents and neighboring Mountain Home Air Force Base family members. In recent weeks the City Council approved the annexation of approximately 400 acres of land adjoining the Mountain Home rail spur and approved zoning the land for industry use.

Last year, City officials successfully negotiated the transfer of approximately 4.25 miles of unused railway formerly owned by the Air Force base in hopes that businesses will want to take advantage of its direct connection to Union Pacific railway. The Union Pacific line offers service to a variety of major metropolitan cities including Portland, OR and Salt Lake City. Union Pacific has also designated Mountain Home Industrial Park as its only Focus Site in Idaho. This designation assures businesses that the industrial park is a premier, utility-ready, large-scale site, with Union Pacific-approved rail design and local development support.

"Mountain Home's strategic location and the additional perks of the industrial park's proximity to Interstate 84 and our own municipal airport offers manufacturers and other types of industry the flexibility to do business locally, regionally, and even nationally," said Mountain Home Economic Development Director Courtney Lewis. "As businesses recognize the value of having all these different assets at their fingertips, it's not only going to benefit our residents and neighbors, but the state-wide economy as well."

Mountain Home officials are also addressing concerns expressed by some residents about the park by planning aesthetic and noise abatement measures, along with designated truck routes to keep potential new traffic away from existing residential neighborhoods.

"The potential to ensure Mountain Home residents and our military families have a variety of new jobs available from labor to technical and professional positions is within reach and we just can't pass on that opportunity," said Mayor Rich Sykes. "Job creation and the long-term economic survivability of our town are some of my major responsibilities as mayor, and I take that very seriously. If we want our youth to stay here and contribute to our town, if we want to help our military families find satisfaction and success while they're here with us, we owe this to them."