Golden Triangle Development LINK Chief Operating Officer Joey Deason confirmed his organization is close to landing a 100-job economic development project in Oktibbeha County.
Deason released few details about the development but said the project, if finalized, “will be a very good win for Starkville.”
“This is a good, fast-growing company with good people,” Deason said Wednesday. “We still have a few little things to tie up to make this happen.”
Officials first disclosed the potential deal Wednesday when a Golden Triangle Planning and Development District representative asked the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors to schedule a public hearing for a $2 million-maximum Community Development Block Grant application to the Mississippi Development Authority.
The grant is expected to facilitate public infrastructure improvements — roadways, water, sewer and other needs — associated with the development.
The GTPDD is also expected to pursue an additional $200,000-$300,000 in similar grant funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission, said Project Analyst Phylis Benson.
“The key factor (with MDA’s Small Cities CDBG program) is that 51 percent of the jobs have to be made available for low- and moderate-income workers,” she said.
Benson could not confirm when the GTPDD would hear back about the grant applications.
Cost estimates for improvements are not yet known since the scope of the project has yet to be announced.
The CDBG grant’s public hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. July 13 at the Oktibbeha County courthouse.
The location for the potential development is not yet known, but the county has land available in Cornerstone Park, its lone industrial park.
LINK officials rallied around Cornerstone as a potential “shade and shelter” park as they touted the development of the Innovation District, a proposed 326-acre advanced manufacturing park that fell through after developers’ found indications of cultural artifacts buried within its soil.
Even though dirt never turned at the Innovation District, LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins previously said his organization had lined up one investor for the park.
In April, Higgins said the project — a consumer goods manufacturer that would have warehousing and distribution capabilities — could land in Cornerstone since its demand for electricity is minimal.
4-County Electric Power Association is expected to upgrade Cornerstone’s power capacity in 2018.
Since Starkville joined the LINK in 2012, the organization has landed a few projects — C Spire’s new data center in the Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park and a paper filing products manufacturer at George M. Bryan Airport — but struggled to land a large-scale development because of the lack of a viable industrial park.
Higgins previously said his organization will continue to identify suitable park locations and standalone sites for investments immediately looking to locate to Oktibbeha County.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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