The city council in Boone voted this week to sell an old grocery store building. An investor says he’ll renovate the former Fareway into a restaurant with room for a reception hall. It’s a welcome success after hopes crumbled earlier this year for the latest plan to start a new business in the old Archway Cookie factory in Boone. Darrel Rensink heads the Boone office of economic development. Rensink says it’s understandable that when a plan like the Boone Baking Company proposal comes up, with the promise to create 200 jobs or more right away and 500 eventually, it’s exciting — and when it falls through it’s natural to be disappointed. Rensink filled in for the city administrator when he was called to active duty in Iraq, then stayed on as the town created an office of economic development in January of this year. Rensink says the job’s a balance of providing a community with quality of life and jobs for citizens. “I think that’s what government’s all about and what economic development’s all about.” The central Iowa town of about 13-thousand has been aggressively courting new industry.Rensink says Boone’s a good community with a long history and energetic leadership. “That doesn’t mean you just roll over and play dead,” he says — saying it’s just time to go ahead and see what else they can do. A fraud indictment against the CEO of Boone Baking Company sealed the fate of hopes for that redevelopment plan. Rensink says the city has a list of properties ready for some developer to outfit for a new industry. The Fareway deal approved this week will have the redeveloper put 50-thousand of his own money into the old store, and after that, for every thousand dollars he spends he’ll get a thousand-dollar rebate from the city of Boone. See the city’s website at www.booneiowa.com
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