Tennessee handed out over $6 million to six new recipients of the Site Development Grant.
This grant money is distributed to various parts of the state to help communities invest in infrastructure and engineering improvements, in preparation for attracting economic development projects and obtaining Select Tennessee site certification.
The six places in Tennessee that received the grants were Bartlett, Livingston, Milan, Winfield, Knox County Industrial Development Board (KCIDB), and Morgan County Economic Development Board (MCEDB).
The City of Bartlett will use the $100,000 it received for due diligence on the Bartlett Innovation Park.
The Town of Winfield, which also got its grant money for due diligence, will use it for the Winfield Industrial Park.
Two of the grantees, Livingston and KCIDB, will use their money on property grading. Livingston received $1 million, and KCIDB got $4 million, which was the largest grant awarded. Livingston will do the property grading at the Livingston Industrial Site, and KCIDB will do it at Eastbridge Business Park.
The City of Milan got $241,769 in grant money, which will help with master planning and sewer infrastructure design.
MCEDB received $658,922.40 to purchase property.
After Tennessee awarded these grants, Governor Bill Lee said the money given to the six recipients “marks another step forward in creating greater economic opportunity across our state.”
“I thank our local leaders for their partnership to drive growth in their communities that will in turn attract future investment and job creation,” the governor added.
Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Stuart McWhorter said this program is “vital to attracting economic development opportunities in our local communities.”
“Just last month, we announced a major project on one of our state’s certified sites – proof that having shovel-ready industrial sites gives Tennessee a competitive edge – and we’re excited that seven more communities are now moving closer to earning this valuable certification,” he added.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at [email protected].
The Faker – The only way to stop this nonsense is to stop “awarding” all grants. Communities should not receive money taken from the taxpayers of other areas of the state. This is part of what is called socialism. It is everywhere in local, state and federal governments. The same goes for so-called Economic Development grants from the state to entice (bribe) companies to move to Tennessee. If Tennessee is such a great place to be (and I think it is) then the companies will come without the bribes.
Seems most “grants” turn out to be unaccountable cash giveaways. They should probably stop, until there is a procedure to track and account for every dollar. Even then, things would probably be tainted.