SITE Program funds $24 million in projects since establishing program in 2021

SITE Program funds $24 million in projects since establishing program in 2021

April 25, 2024

During Golden LEAF’s strategic planning process, the Golden LEAF Board identified gaps in available funding to support site development necessary to attract businesses, especially in rural and economically distressed areas. In response to these findings, the SITE Program was designed to support the identification, preparation, and development of sites to attract quality jobs to these areas.

The SITE Program supports communities in identifying potential sites for economic development and provides funds to enable completion of due diligence on sites already identified or to extend public utilities to or conduct rough grading and clearing of sites for which due diligence has been completed. The three phases of the SITE Program are Identification, Due Diligence, and Development.

Organizations can begin the process at any of the three phases, and a site may progress from identification through to development over time.

SITE Program – Identification provides support to identify potential industrial sites in communities that do not currently have quality industrial sites to market.

SITE Program – Due Diligence provides funding to complete eligible due diligence activities such as environmental assessments, archaeological analyses, and mapping for identified industrial sites.

SITE Program – Development provides funding for public infrastructure and, for publicly owned sites, clearing and grading, to benefit sites that have completed the due diligence necessary to demonstrate that the site is suitable for industrial development.

To date, the Golden LEAF Board of Directors has awarded SITE Program funding for the following projects:

December 2021
County Project Title Organization Amount Description
Alexander Alexander EDC Rail Shell Site Alexander County Economic Development Corporation $632,412 Development
Cumberland Fayetteville Regional Airport Sewer Improvement City of Fayetteville, Department of Economic and Community Development $965,830 Development
Duplin Duplin County AirPark Foundation for Duplin County Industrial and Business Development $17,500 Due Diligence
Franklin Louisburg Commerce Park Town of Louisburg $252,720 Development
Halifax Enfield Industrial Site Readiness Project County of Halifax $18,500 Due Diligence
Macon Macon County Site ID Macon County (Macon County EDC) $15,000 Identification
McDowell Universal Technology Park County of McDowell $952,000 Development
Montgomery Montgomery County Identification County of Montgomery $15,000 Identification
Nash Middlesex Corporate Centre Due Diligence County of Nash $50,000 Due Diligence
Rockingham Development SITE Grant for Lot 11 Reidsville Industrial Park County of Rockingham $992,000 Development
June 2022
Columbus Tabor City Industrial Park Site Development Town of Tabor City $375,000 Development
Cumberland Sand Hill Road Site County of Cumberland $937,600 Development
Duplin Duplin County AirPark Development Foundation for Duplin County Industrial and Business Development $423,500 Development
Martin NC Rail & Commerce Park – Due Diligence Martin County Economic Development Corporation $29,500 Due Diligence
Moore Town of Robbins Site Identification Moore County Partners in Progress $15,000 Identification
Nash Nashville Business Center Grubbing & Clearing Project Town of Nashville $188,513 Due Diligence
Person Person County North Park Site County of Person $973,750 Development
Robeson Comtech Reinvestment County of Robeson $35,500 Due Diligence
Rutherford RiverStone Business Park Rutherford County Economic Development Corporation $998,512.50 Development
Stokes Stokes County Site Identification Search County of Stokes $15,000 Identification
Surry Westwood Industrial Park Due Diligence City of Mount Airy $39,650 Due Diligence
Wilkes Wilkes County Site Identification Search Wilkes Economic Development Corporation $15,000 Identification
Onslow Frontier City of Jacksonville $1,000,000 Development
December 2022
Duplin Duplin County 2022 Golden LEAF Water Supply Well Project County of Duplin $999,150 Development
Forsyth Tanglewood Business Park Greater Winston-Salem Development Corp. $25,500 Due Diligence
Nash Betts Parkway/Peele Road Water/Sewer Extension City of Rocky Mount $1,500,000 Development
Randolph I-74 Industrial Center Development County of Randolph $1,000,000 Development
Rockingham Development SITE Grant for Eden New Street Site County of Rockingham $1,000,000 Development
Sampson Sampson Southeast Business Center SITE Development County of Sampson $265,112.38 Development
Stanly ABC Site Prep City of Albemarle $763,100 Development
Stanly Riverstone Industrial Park Clearing & Grading County of Stanly $248,440 Development
Warren Warren County Site Identification County of Warren $15,000 Identification
June 2023
Ashe Grading at Ashe County Business Park Site County of Ashe $920,034.50 Development
Catawba Claremont International Rail Park City of Claremont $50,000 Due Diligence
Columbus Southeast Regional Park Site Development County of Columbus $50,000 Due Diligence
Jackson Jackson Site ID Jackson County Economic Development $15,000 Identification
Lenoir La Grange Economic Development Site #1 Town of La Grange, North Carolina $1,500,000 Development
Madison Madison County Industrial Park Madison County Economic Development $24,550 Due Diligence
McDowell Universal Technology Park Phase II County of McDowell $1,378,550 Development
Nash Nashville Business Center Rough Grading Town of Nashville $407,550 Development
Onslow Camp Davis Industrial Park, Phase III Jacksonville-Onslow Economic Development Partnership $50,000 Due Diligence
Wilkes Wilkes Industrial Park Wilkes Economic Development Corporation $50,000 Due Diligence
Pitt Ayden Water System Improvements County of Pitt $1,500,000 Development
December 2023
Burke Great Meadows Site Burke Partnership for Economic Development, Inc. $50,000 Due Diligence
Greene Greene County SITE Identification County of Greene $15,000 Identification
Madison Madison County Industrial Site Madison County Economic Development $1,500,000 Development
Surry Westwood Industrial Park Site Development City of Mount Airy $1,500,000 Development
Washington SITE Program Identification Washington, County of $15,000 Identification

The next round of SITE Program awards will be made at the June 2024 meeting. Learn more about the SITE Program.

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