NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Stuart C. McWhorter announced today 15 new Site Development Grant recipients.

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.”

The grants awarded this round include:

• City of Bolivar

Hardeman County Industrial Park, $700,000 – Building rehabilitation

• City of Crossville

Interchange Business Park, $4,523,950 – Speculative building construction

• City of Milan

Milan Arsenal Property, $100,000 – Due diligence

• City of Union City

Northwest Tennessee Regional Industrial Center, $100,000 – Due diligence

• Industrial Development Board of the City of Columbia, Tennessee

Columbia Tennessee Rail Site, $1,687,239 – Electrical infrastructure

• Decatur County Chamber of Commerce

Decatur County Industrial Site, $843,535 – Sewer infrastructure

• Industrial Development Board of the Town of Huntingdon

Huntingdon Industrial Park South, $829,452 – Access road construction, property grading, and water and sewer infrastructure

• Industrial Development Board of McMinnville-Warren County

Linden Site, $100,000 – Due diligence

• Industrial Development Board of Pulaski and Giles County Tennessee

Dan Speer Industrial Park South, $1,000,000 – Property grading

• Lawrence County Joint Economic and Community Development Board

Lawrenceburg Industrial Park, $4,500,000 – Water, sewer, natural gas, and electrical infrastructure, and property purchase

• Macon County Government

Macon-Lafayette Industrial Park, $936,149 – Electrical infrastructure

• McMinn County Government

Athens McMinn Innovation Park, $984,752 – Access road construction

• Morgan County Economic Development Board

Darnell Property, $100,000 – Due diligence

• Selmer McNairy County Industrial Development Board

Selmer Industrial Park North, $500,000 – Engineering studies

• The Tusculum-Greeneville-Greene County, Tennessee Industrial Development Board

Greene Valley, $100,000 – Due diligence

Applications were reviewed by an advisory committee made up of TNECD, Austin Consulting, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

Each application was supported by the community’s senator and representatives in the Tennessee General Assembly.

About the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development

The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development’s mission is to develop strategies that help make Tennessee the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high quality jobs. To grow and strengthen Tennessee, the department seeks to attract new corporate investment to the state and works with Tennessee companies to facilitate expansion and economic growth. Find us on the web: tnecd.com. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Like us on Facebook. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.