State awards $17 million as part of 15 site development grants
State site development grants have been awarded to 12 municipalities as part of 15 total grants recently awarded through TNECD’s Site Development Grant program.
Bolivar, Columbia, Crossville, Huntingdon, Milan, and Union City each received funds for site development projects. Joint grants were also issued for the Industrial Board of McMinnville-Warren County, the Industrial Development Board of Pulaski-Giles County, the Lawrence County Joint Economic and Community Development Board, Selmer-McNary County Industrial Board, and Tusculum-Greeneville-Green County Industrial Board.
Grants were also awarded to the Decatur County Chamber of Commerce for the Decatur County Industrial Site, Macon County, McMinn County, and Morgan County. The Macon County project is located in Lafayette while the McMinn County project is located in Athens.
The grants, totaling more than $17 million, are designed to help communities invest in infrastructure and engineering improvements to land economic development projects and achieve Select Tennessee site certification.
“What happens in rural Tennessee matters to all Tennesseans, and we’ve made significant investments to strengthen the skilled workforce in our rural counties,” said Lee. “TNECD’s Site Development grant program further supports those efforts by creating high-quality jobs for thousands of Tennesseans across our state and spurring future economic growth.”
The Site Development Grant program is part of the Rural Economic Opportunity Act, which provides funding to improve the economies of Tennessee’s rural communities. Since 2016, TNECD has awarded 180 Site Development Grants across the state, totaling nearly $100 million in assistance to local communities and generating 7,011 new jobs for Tennesseans.
“From Memphis to Mountain City, Tennessee has so many rural communities,” said McWhorter. “Economic growth in our rural regions is vital to our future, and I’m grateful to all involved for helping make this round of grants happen.”
Grant project details include:
Entity | Amount | Location | Project |
| Bolivar | $700,000 | Hardeman County Industrial Park | Building rehab |
| Columbia IDB | $1,687,239 | Columbia Rail Site | Electrical infrastructure |
| Crossville | $4,523,950 | Interchange Business Park | Speculative building construction |
| Decatur County Chamber | $843,535 | Decatur County Industrial Site | Sewer infrastructure |
| Huntingdon IDB | $829,452 | Huntingdon Industrial Park South | Access road construction, property grading, and water and sewer infrastructure |
| Lawrence County Joint Economic & Community Development Board | $4,500,000 | Lawrenceburg Industrial Park | Water, sewer, natural gas, and electrical infrastructure, and property purchase |
| Macon County | $936,149 | Macon-Lafayette Industrial Park | Electrical infrastructure |
| McMinn County | $984,752 | Athens McMinn Innovation Park | Access road construction |
| McMinnville-Warren County IDB | $100,000 | Linden Site | Due diligence |
| Milan | $100,000 | Milan Arsenal property | Due diligence |
| Morgan County | $100,000 | Darnell property | Due diligence |
| Pulaski-Giles County IDB | $1,000,000 | Dan Speer Industrial Park South | Property grading |
| Selmer-McNairy County IDB | $500,000 | Selmer Industrial Park North | Engineering studies |
| Tusculum-Greeneville-Green County IDB | $100,000 | Greene Valley | Due diligence |