Projects in nine counties receive SITE Program funding | Eastern NC Now

Press Release:

    At the December 2022 meeting, the Golden LEAF Foundation Board of Directors awarded $5.8 million in funding for 10 projects through the Golden LEAF SITE Program in Caldwell, Duplin, Forsyth, Nash, Randolph, Rockingham, Sampson, Stanly, and Warren counties.

    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.

    SITE Program - Identification provides assistance to a community from a firm contracted by Golden LEAF to help identify potential industrial sites in the community. Warren County was selected to receive assistance through this phase.

    In the SITE Program - Due Diligence phase, the Golden LEAF Board awarded $25,500 in funding to the Greater Winston-Salem Development Corp. for the Tanglewood Business Park and $50,000 in funding to Caldwell County for the Evergreene Industrial Park. These projects will use funding to complete eligible due diligence activities such as environmental assessments, archaeological analyses, and mapping.

    For the SITE Program - Development, the Golden LEAF Board awarded $5,775,802 in funding for seven projects that will provide public infrastructure and, for publicly owned sites, clearing and rough grading, to benefit sites that have completed the due diligence necessary to demonstrate that the site is suitable for development. Organizations receiving SITE Program - Development support include:

• $763,100 to the City of Albemarle for funds to support clearing and grading of a site within the 282-acre Albemarle Business Center.
• $999,150 to Duplin County for funds to construct a new water supply well at the WestPark Business and Industrial Park, the county's only industrial park with rail access and natural gas.
• $1,000,000 to Randolph County to extend sewer to facilitate the development of the proposed I-74 Industrial Center, a 160-acre site located near Sophia, NC adjacent to I-74.
• $1,000,000 to Rockingham County to grub and rough grade a 15-acre site at New Street Industrial Site in Eden, in an area that is one of the county's most attractive to prospective industries.
• $1,500,000 to the City of Rocky Mount to extend water and sewer along Thomas Betts Parkway and Peele Road to serve the city-owned Peele Road site.
• $265,112.38 to Sampson County to clear and grade an approximately 10-acre lot within an existing 120-acre industrial park.
• $248,440 to Stanly County to clear and grade eight acres of the 34-acre Riverstone Industrial Park, one of two publicly owned sites and the only county-owned industrial site in Stanly County.

    Golden LEAF budgeted $15 million for the SITE Program this fiscal year to be awarded in two rounds: Fall 2022 and Spring 2023. The application portal will reopen in early 2023 with more than $9 million in available funding. Sign up for updates on the SITE Program by clicking here.