Benton County officials met Friday to celebrate the purchase of what Mark Ward County called “the biggest thing that has happened in Benton County in our lifetime.”

A small, rural county on the west side of the Tennessee River was one of 11 recipients of the latest state grant aimed at boosting the rural economy by attracting industry. Benton County received more than $1.9 million to purchase the 555-acre property on Highway 70 near the city of Camden restrictions.

The state’s economic development department has announced the website “Gateway to West Tennessee. ”

The county pays $100,000. This is a 5% match for the grant. They deposit their banks on sites depicted by large employers. According to US Census data, about 18% of the 16,000 counties live in households with below poverty levels. The Benton County Board of Education is the region’s leading employer with an estimated 328 employees. Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD).

“This doesn’t happen very often in counties, especially in small, painful counties like Benton,” Ward said. Press conference.

Bruval City, full of hope for Benton officials, continues to raise interest

Ward mentioned growing interest in industrial sites in West Tennessee following Ford’s announcement Blueoval City Electric Vehicle Factory In Heywood County.

Benton County has the option of purchasing land for several years while working to find funds for the purchase. Benton County Director of Economic Development Jennifer Wheatley said that in the year Ford announced their factory, Benton County received around 75 requests for information from businesses searching for land.

However, the trajectory of electric vehicles in Tennessee has been hiccups since Ford’s 2021 launch. Ford is still committed to creating 5,800 jobs on campus, but the car maker Production delay Until 2027, we are giving time to adjust our electric vehicle strategy in the hopes of improving profits out of the next generation of electric pickup trucks at our factories. question Frozen federal funds Regarding the electric vehicle program under President Donald Trump, it also stirs up uncertainty for the future of the state’s growing electric vehicle industry.

Over the past year, that number has dropped to around 25 information requests. About half of that includes this undeveloped property.

After the purchase, the county plans to develop approximately 167 acres, maintaining approximately 400 acres of trees surrounding the industrial pads, and serve as a “buffer” for surrounding residents and businesses.

The land will have access to 30 megawatts of electricity through Tennessee Valley authorities. This is a unique capacity for many sizes in western Tennessee, Ward added. It is also located between two large natural gas lines and two state highways. Benton County is in the process of purchasing options on the adjacent 120 acres of properties needed to link the rail to the site if a potential future tenant wants a rail connection.

Wheatley said last year that companies that expressed interest in the property were “number one is always car” or battery-related. Other companies dealt with paper, textiles, metal stamping, flooring and pool chemicals.

“This is very important to us. If we get this property and someone says, ‘Can you bring me a lot of work?’, we’re ready,” Whaitley said. “That’s important because if we’re not ready, we’ll take over and that’s what happened to us for years.”

The state site certification program supports speculative development in rural areas

State grant funds to purchase property are a step towards preparing land. Select Tennessee Site CertificationA program that flags the site as “shovel-enabled” if it meets certain criteria and completes the required land analysis.

Tennessee has 78 certified sites According to the state’s Economic Development Hub, the program was launched in 2012, and since 2013, the accredited site has received approximately $3.8 billion in capital investment since 2013. However, many properties are publicly available for a total of hundreds of acres It remains available And unused.

“It won’t happen tomorrow,” Ward admitted. “But this is the first step in the right direction.”

TNECD has awarded 191 site development grants statewide. The latest grant round, announced on January 27th, allocated $17 million.

“Shovel-enabled industrial sites can be a deciding factor for businesses seeking to do business in Tennessee, which is why our efforts are important for our community and economic development,” Bill Lee said. The governor said in a news release. “We look forward to the growth that our investments in these sites bring to the communities that receive funding through this series of grants.”

Other grants awarded include:

• $20,000 to Trenton City Economic and Industrial Development Committee for Due Diligence
• $1.1 million to Union City for liquidation and grading of real estate at the Northwest Tennessee Regional Industrial Center
• $1.6 million to Coffee County Industrial Board for Manchester Industrial Park sewer infrastructure
• $4 million to Morristown City Industrial Development Board for speculative building construction at the East TN Progress Center lot.
• $100,000 to Fentress County’s Industrial Development Board for Due Diligence Work at Clarkrange Regional Business Park
• $66,500 to Scott County Industrial Development Board for due diligence work at the airport industrial site
• $3.5 million to the Fayetteville and Lincoln County Industrial Development Board for speculative construction at the Runway Center Industrial Park.
• Bradley County Industrial Development Board and $2.9 million to Cleveland City for real estate grading at Spring Branch Industrial Parklots 8 and 9
• $1.1 million to the Paris Henry County Industrial Commission for real estate cleaning and due diligence work at Paris Henry County Industrial Park