STARKVILLE — The Golden Triangle Development LINK has received a $3.4 million grant from the state to further enhance the North Star Industrial Park.
The industrial park, located on land north of the Highway 82-Highway 389 intersection, includes mostly undeveloped or agricultural property. With this grant, the park will add a pad-ready site of 50,000 square feet, expandable to 100,000 square feet, LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins said. A pad is a plot of land prepared for a structure.
“This grant is going to allow us to build a pad-ready site. It will be capable of building a 100,000 square-foot building,” Higgins said. “We’re going to do a good amount of clearing and grubbing.”
Higgins said the LINK plans to cut down and clear the area of trees and grub to add the extended pad.
Gov. Tate Reeves announced Thursday the state is investing nearly $25 million into site development projects throughout the state. Grants were made available through the Mississippi Development Authority, the Appalachian Regional Commission and the RESTORE Act to spur economic growth by attracting new industry to shovel-ready sites.
Higgins said the state worked with the LINK, asking what would make the park the most competitive, and in turn, granted these dollars to expand the park. Higgins said this grant will allow the park to not only have a major impact on the Golden Triangle, but Starkville as a whole.
“The park has really just gotten to where we can market it,” Higgins said. “While we have been working on it for several years, I think this is our year that something good happens out there.”
Development at the 360-acre park began in 2017. Both the city and Oktibbeha County invested a combined $14 million into the parks in 2017, and entities such as Tennessee Valley Authority, 4-County Electric Power Association, Atmos Energy Corporation and the Mississippi Department of Transportation also contributed to the site’s preparation.
Garan Manufacturing became the first tenant in 2020, relocating its regional headquarters from its former home on Highway 12.
Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill said she believes this grant will allow the park to recruit new businesses into the area, creating a more engaging atmosphere.
“I am very excited that Gov. Reeves has provided us this opportunity to expand our park, and I think we are going to be able to use it to make it more attractive to new industries,” Spruill said.
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