February 6, 2019 – Governor Bill Lee and the Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe announced the City of Morristown is being awarded a Select TN Site Development Grant in the amount of $1 million dollars.
Morristown will use the grant monies for preparation of an industrial site in the East Tennessee Progress Center. Once prepared the site will be able to accommodate a building of up to a million square feet.
Morristown Area Chamber of Commerce staff assisted with the grant application. They have been working on it since August 2018, according to Marshall Ramsey, President. “The grant will be used for environmental studies, core studies as well as archeological reviews prior to grading the site. The grant will also fund rough grade of the site, which is approximately 85 acres,” Ramsey said.
The City of Morristown is one of two entities receiving funding of $1 million dollars. The size of the grant, termed high-impact , required a pre-application process. “The typical grant maximum for this program is $500,000 but because of our successful pre-application, we were allowed to ask for the additional funding,” Ramsey said.
“We appreciate the State of Tennessee for the opportunity to continue to develop our sites,” Ramsey said. “We have found it takes pad-ready sites to compete not only in Tennessee, but with the rest of the country. Programs like this allow us to be more prepared than our competitors.”
Thirteen communities will benefit from the more than $5 million in Site Development Grant funding. The program is part of the larger Rural Economic Opportunity Act supported by the Tennessee General Assembly for the last three years.
“I would like to congratulate the 13 communities receiving Site Development Grants,” Governor Lee said. ” One of Tennessee’s major initiatives is helping rural communities, and with the assistance of these grants, these communities will be better positioned for economic success and investment. I look forward to seeing these communities continue to grow and excel.”
The grants are intended to help rural communities overcome barriers to achieve Select Tennessee site certification and prepare them to receive economic development projects that will create jobs in their communities. The funds assist communities in completing infrastructure needs and making engineering improvements on project-ready sites.
“When a company is looking to expand or locate new operations in our state, one of the most important assets a community can have to land a project is a shovel-ready site,” Commissioner Rolfe said. “I am proud of these 13 communities for taking the initiative to be better prepared for economic growth with the assistance of the Site Development Grants.”
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