Sioux City Area #1 in Economic Development

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Sioux City area noticed by magazine for development success

The Sioux City metropolitan area has been ranked No. 1 in economic development by a national business magazine.

The area, which includes South Sioux City, Sioux City, Iowa, and North Sioux City, S.D., attracted enough projects to compete with cities several times its size.

"Sioux City is performing at a level that is commensurate with cities like Tulsa — it really is outperforming its category," said Ron Starner, general manager of Site Selection magazine.

Meanwhile, the Omaha-Council Bluffs area tied for second while competing with larger cities. . . .

The Sioux City area was recognized in the category of cities population 50,000 to 200,000.

With its number of projects, it would have tied for ninth place with Tulsa, Okla., in the category of cities with a population of 200,000 to 1 million. The Omaha-Council Bluffs area tied for second in that category, with 29 projects. . . .

The magazine did not release a list of the 23 projects that gave the Sioux City area its top ranking, but Durham said they included a Northwest Airlines reservation center in downtown Sioux City.

Several of the projects were on the Nebraska side of the Missouri River, including a $30 million Beef Products plant and a $30 million Specialty Protein Products organic soybean processing plant — both in South Sioux City. An $85 million ethanol plant run by Prime Bio-Solutions has been planned for Dakota County, Neb.