Hazen, set amid desert flats and agricultural fields between Fernley and Fallon on Highway 50A, is in line to be a player among northern Nevada industrial parks.
Despite Hazen's sparsely populated location, "We're not interested in cheap or dirty industry, says Brad Goetsch, Churchill county manager.
"We've already invited several such companies to look elsewhere. We're not looking for low-wage jobs."
However, the high-wages industrial and construction jobs could come from a proposed industrial park and residential development.
Initial plans for the Great Basin Industrial Center will be aired at public meetings this fall, says Trevor Smith of Matthews Land, Inc., the parent company of California-based Matthews Homes, developer of the center.
Initial industrial infrastructure for the Great Basin Industrial Center is scheduled to be under way in 2007, with about 420 acres included in a first phase. Total build out is 1,531 acres.
The residential portion earmarks 405 acres for 2,500 single-family homes, 15 acres for commercial, seven acres for public facilities (fire and sheriff), 20 acres for schools and parks, 29 acres for wastewater treatment, and 330 acres for parks and open space, which incorporates 20 acres of wetlands and a trail system.
Site work would start in January 2007 with residential units ready for sale later in the year, says Smith.
The company's economic analysis shows the residential development will provide financing to build the infrastructure for the industrial park.
The company would look to partner with an experienced industrial developer, Smith says.
Churchill County's master plan, however, supports Fallon and encourages business to locate downtown, says Eleanor Lockwood, planning director.
"We have concerns about another little city west of Fallon." Lockwood says. The county is developing a growth-management plan to address those questions.
Smith, which is working with Loomis Engineering of Reno, has provided an initial presentation about the Matthews Land proposal to county officials.
Also at Hazen is the Little Hazen Industrial Park, operated by Little Cement and Fly Ash LLC to serve northern Nevada and northern California.
Owner Mike Little says the 300-acre park targets acquisition of an additional 3,000 acres within a mile of Hazen. The company operates a cement and fly ash distribution center. Plans also include a siding and a main spur from the Union Pacific rail line.
The Western Nevada Rail Park, meanwhile, is located on the north side of the highway, 12 miles south of Fernley on the Lyon- Churchill border.
It was developed to load liquid asphalt from trains to trucks. The original owners couldn't find the 10-acre site they needed in 1999, so they bought the entire 247-acre parcel, says Myles VanGorder, manager of the corporation that's developing the land.
"We found locations with rail siding and spurs were in short supply," says VanGorder, who works under new owners who bought the property in 2003.
The developers note that the park has access to Union Pacific and Burlington Northern lines. About 1,800 feet of track have been laid in the park.
He notes that Hazen is suitable for industries that may look dirty ? liquid asphalt leaves black streaks on large containers ? but do not create water or air pollution. As a dusty but not dirty example, he cites a temporary tenant at the park that needed to load 100 rail cars with sand for a concrete bridge project in California.
Three companies are in residence at the Western Nevada Rail Park - a propane distributor, a chemical company, and the liquid asphalt off-loading operation.
The park has plans for expansion; it wants 20 tenants to take five to 10 acres each. Six tenants were lined up, VanGorder recalls, but all disappeared in the post-9-11 economic slump.
"Within the last six months, they've started coming back," says VanGorder.
South of the Western Nevada Rail Park is the Geothermal Rail Industrial Development, or GRID. It's developing three individual parks for a total of 4,500 acres, says Jim Kingzett, managing member of Geothermal Rail Industrial Development, LLC.
Properties along the Highway 50 frontage will develop first, he says.
Churchill Gateway Commerce Park, one of the GRID properties, totals 100 acres and abuts Jersey Lane on the east end. Four parcels are in escrow. Six five-acre lots have highway frontage while one 15-acre parcel is earmarked for a truck stop/convenience store.
A 60-acre interior parcel will be broken into up to five lots.
Rail access to the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern lines is planned.
The Dark Horse Geo Center, the second the GRID properties, with 412 acres north of the highway, was recently annexed into the City of Fernley. The park is named for the dark horse on Black Butte, a natural formation known to locals.
A prime selling point: Orlie Field, an airstrip granted airspace approval from the Federal Aviation Authority will lie across the interior of the property, providing corporate tenants access via light jets.
But the key selling point of the geothermal center is energy.
Kingzett calls it "the largest renewable energy industrial park in the nation" and hopes to use underground geothermal resources to provide power to industrial tenants.
To jump start that effort, Kingzett says, he will provide land without initial charge for energy business providers who offer services or products involving energy technology.
The plan: help get them started with free land, which they can then use to secure financing. In return, his company will take a sharehold in their business. He is talking with non-profit sponsors: utility or academic.
Target dates for development depend on Nevada Department of Transportation work along Highway 50. Plans this year include acceleration lanes, a right in and right out apron, plus a high-T intersection. A frontage road will be built next year.