On
Thursday, December 1st, The Golden LEAF Foundation awarded $5.8
million in funding to support 10 North Carolina economic development projects
through the SITE Program. Rockingham County was the recipient of $1,000,000 of
these funds.
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.
With
this generous award, Rockingham County Economic Development will grub and rough
grade a 15-acre pad at New Street Industrial Site in Eden, in an area that is
one of the county’s most attractive to prospective industries.
“As
industrial interest for Rockingham County continues to grow, having this asset
readily available puts Rockingham County in a perfect position to welcome more
new industries,” states Leigh Cockram, Rockingham County Economic Development
Director. “We are grateful to The Golden LEAF Foundation staff and Board of
Directors for their continued partnership as we work together to grow the
economy of not only Rockingham County, but the state of North Carolina.
“The
Golden LEAF Board of Directors established the SITE Program to help rural
communities make sites available for development to attract new businesses and
create opportunities for existing businesses to expand,” said Scott T.
Hamilton, Golden LEAF President, Chief Executive Officer. “This project will
help Rockingham County be prepared for future industry recruitment or expansion
opportunities.”
The
Golden LEAF Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 1999 to
receive a portion of North Carolina’s funding from the 1998 Master Settlement
Agreement with cigarette manufacturers. For more than 20 years, Golden LEAF has
worked to increase economic opportunity in North Carolina’s rural and
tobacco-dependent communities through leadership in grantmaking, collaboration,
innovation, and stewardship as an independent and perpetual foundation.
The
Foundation has provided lasting impact to tobacco-dependent, economically
distressed, and rural areas of the state by helping create 67,000 jobs, more
than $720 million in new payrolls, and more than 95,000 workers trained or
retrained for higher wages.
For
more information about Golden LEAF and its programs, please visit their website
at www.goldenleaf.org.
For
more information or questions regarding Rockingham County Economic Development
and its efforts, please contact Tara Martin, Economic Development Marketing
Manager at [email protected].