Salina’s industrial and commercial building activity is accelerating well above the depressed rates of the past two years.

In the first six months of 2012, 70 industrial and commercial building permits were filed in Saline County and the City of Salina, according to Dennis Lauver, President and CEO of the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce. Projects in the first half of 2012 include building permits for Universal Forest Products, Tischlerei Fine Cabinetry and Woodworking (both new companies to Salina) and a new Dillons food store. Additionally, a variety of other projects were issued permits.

“Salina hasn’t seen this kind of new construction pace since 2009 when building permits were issued for projects with $18.5 million of value in new construction under way for the entire year,” Lauver said. “Already this year we have seen 23 million in new activity, and during the last half of the year we traditionally see an even greater level of activity and expect that kind of high volume in 2012.”

Commercial and industrial building projects for the second half of 2012 include construction of Olive Garden Italian Restaurant and an expansion of Con-Way Freight facilities. The Chamber anticipates up to four new retail establishments to begin construction activities through the end of the year along with other primary employers making a capital investment.

“We may be on the threshold of an economic rebound or this could be just pent-up demand surfacing,” said Lauver. “Transactional activity is increasing and that is good for the financial health of Salina. We will continue to monitor activity levels to see if a rebound is occurring here, while we also note that other similar regional communities are not seeing an uptick as strong as we are experiencing.”