At the June Board meeting, the Golden LEAF Board of Directors awarded $4,495,684 to support 11 projects through the SITE Program in Ashe, Catawba, Columbus, Jackson, Lenoir, Madison, McDowell, Nash, Onslow, Washington, and Wilkes counties.
“The need for industrial sites, especially in rural areas, is no longer a luxury but a necessity to meet demand,” said Don Flow, Golden LEAF Board Chair. “We are excited to see how these projects will help prepare counties for new and expanding companies in North Carolina.”
The SITE Program offers resources to help communities identify potential sites for economic development, provides funding to complete due diligence on publicly controlled sites, and provides funding to extend public utilities to publicly controlled sites or to conduct clearing and rough grading of publicly owned sites. The three phases of the SITE Program are Identification, Due Diligence, and Development.
SITE Program – Identification provides assistance to a community from a firm contracted by Golden LEAF to help identify potential industrial sites in the community. Jackson County was selected to receive assistance through this phase.
The Golden LEAF Board awarded $274,550 in funding to support six SITE Program – Due Diligence projects. These projects will use funding to complete eligible due diligence activities such as environmental assessments, archaeological analyses, and mapping. Organizations receiving SITE Program – Due Diligence support include:
- $50,000 to the City of Claremont for the Claremont International Rail Park.
- $50,000 to Columbus County for Southeast Regional Park Site Development.
- $50,000 to the Jacksonville-Onslow Economic Development Partnership for the Camp Davis Industrial Park, Phase III.
- $24,550 to Madison County Economic Development for the Madison County Industrial Park.
- $50,000 to Washington County for the Washington County Industrial Preparation Project.
- $50,000 to Wilkes Economic Development Corporation for the Wilkes Industrial Park.
For the SITE Program – Development, the Golden LEAF Board awarded $4,206,134 in funding for four projects that will provide public infrastructure and, for publicly owned sites, clearing and rough grading, to benefit sites that have completed the due diligence necessary to demonstrate that the site is suitable for development. Organizations receiving SITE Program – Development support include:
- $920,034 to Ashe County to enable site work, including clearing, grading, erosion control, stabilization, and other site preparation for a 10.2-acre lot that could house an industrial facility of up to 50,000 square feet within Ashe County’s new industrial park.
- $1,500,000 to the Town of La Grange to extend water infrastructure to serve a 60-acre town-owned site at the corner of Hwy 903 and North Charles Street by connecting two newly acquired water production wells to provide additional water production capacity and increase flow and pressure to northeastern La Grange.
- $1,378,550 to McDowell County to complete select due diligence and for continued clearing and rough grading of the 20-acre site in Universal Technology Park, Phase II.
- $407,550 to the Town of Nashville to rough-grade Lot #3 in the Nashville Business Center, which has a significant surface slope, to make it suitable for industrial development. The site has been previously cleared and grubbed.
The application period for the Fall 2023 Golden LEAF SITE Program will open this summer. If you would like to be notified of SITE Program updates, sign up for email alerts by clicking here.