$3.4 million in Rural Center grants to create nearly 350 jobs, provide clean water

 For immediate release (8/27/12)

Contact: Matt Ehlers, 919-250-4314

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The N.C. Rural Economic Development Center has awarded 24 grants totaling $3.4 million to create jobs, provide clean water and assist with economic development in rural counties. The grants will create 349 jobs and aid projects in 16 counties.

The center's board of directors approved the grants on August 22. The grants were made possible by appropriations of the N.C. General Assembly and state clean water bonds.

JOB CREATION

The board awarded 18 grants worth $2.6 million for projects that directly lead to job creation. Economic infrastructure grants enable new business locations or expansions through water and sewer improvements, broadband expansion, natural gas line extensions, construction of access roads and other infrastructure improvements. Building reuse grants prepare vacant buildings for use by job-generating businesses, support the expansion and renovation of occupied buildings if that work leads to new, permanent jobs in the manufacturing sector and enable construction of health care facilities that create jobs

Economic infrastructure

Town of Canton, $228,854 for sewer infrastructure improvements to a site where three businesses plan to locate. This award is in addition to a $600,000 grant the town received in 2010. The new award will create 23 additional jobs in the Haywood County town, increasing the project's total to 83 new jobs.

Fork Township Sanitary District, $83,500 to extend water and sewer lines to a new medical facility. The project will create nine jobs in the Wayne County town. Hoke County, $80,000 for sewer infrastructure improvements in a project that will serve multiple businesses. This award is in addition to a $650,000 grant the county received in 2011. The new award will create eight additional jobs, increasing the project's total to 73 new jobs.

Lincoln County, $459,322 in two grants to extend water and sewer lines to a new facility that will manufacture small engines. The project will create 52 jobs. Rockingham County, $76,500 to extend water and sewer lines to a new commercial bakery. This economic infrastructure award will create eight jobs. The award is in addition to a $64,973 building reuse grant the county received for the project in this grant cycle.

City of Sanford, $60,000 for infrastructure improvements to an expanding cold storage company. This award is in addition to a $290,000 grant the Lee County town received earlier this year. The new award will create 12 additional jobs, increasing the project's total to 70 new jobs.

Vance County, $16,323 for water infrastructure improvements to assist an expanding refrigeration company. This award is in addition to a $32,038 grant the county received earlier this year. The new award will create one additional job, increasing the project's total to five jobs.

Building reuse

Burke County, $60,000 to support the renovation of a storage area into a production space for an expanding manufacturing company in Connelly Springs. The project will create 12 jobs.

Town of Cherryville, $240,000 to support the new construction of a facility for an expanding provider of nursing and rehabilitation care. The project will create 30 jobs in the Gaston County town.

Town of Clayton, $200,000 to renovate a vacant building for use by a commercial bakery. The project will create 25 jobs in the Johnston County town.

Graham County, $466,000 to renovate the boiler and lighting systems used by a furniture company. The project will create 94 jobs.

Town of Hildebran, $75,000 to construct an addition that will double the manufacturing area of a company that specializes in heavy equipment and parts for the automotive industry. The project will create 15 jobs in the Burke County town.

Lee County, $128,896 to renovate a vacant building for use by a hydraulics company in Sanford. The project will create 11 jobs.

Town of Middlesex, $85,000 to renovate a vacant building for use by a packaging company. The project will create eight jobs in the Nash County town.

City of Monroe, $240,000 to renovate a vacant building for use by a food processing company. The project will create 30 jobs in the Union County town.

Rockingham County, $64,973 to renovate a vacant building for use by a commercial bakery in Stokesdale. This building reuse award will create six jobs. The award is in addition to a $76,500 economic infrastructure grant the county received for the project in this grant cycle.

Town of Rutherford College, $40,000 to renovate a vacant building for use by a restaurant. The project will create five jobs in the Burke County town.

CLEAN WATER

This grant program funds water and sewer projects that address critical public or environmental health issues. Funding is provided by appropriations of the N.C. General Assembly and the state's 1998 Clean Water Bonds.

Town of Fontana Dam, $23,750 to prepare a master plan and a capital improvements plan for the water and wastewater systems in the Graham County town.

City of Marion, $16,500 to analyze and map the water distribution system in the McDowell County town.

Town of Red Springs, $500,000 to replace a dilapidated water tank and distribution lines in the Robeson County town.

Town of Robbinsville, $37,229 to construct three new groundwater wells that will connect to the existing water system in the Graham County town.

City of Sanford, $81,000 to extend water lines to serve more than a dozen homeowners in Lee County whose wells produce water laced with odors and bacteria.

Town of Sparta, $135,000 for a construction project that will increase the intake capacity of the water treatment plant in the Alleghany County town. The earthquake of August 2011 affected water levels in the area, creating the need for the expansion.

The N.C. Rural Economic Development Center is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to develop sound economic strategies that improve the quality of life in rural North Carolina, with a special focus on individuals with low to moderate incomes and communities with limited resources. The center operates a multifaceted program that includes conducting research into rural issues; testing promising rural development strategies; advocating for policy and program innovations; and building the productive capacity of rural leaders, entrepreneurs and community organizations.