A $100,000 grant by Gov. Robert Bentley is helping lay a welcome mat for Vernon Industrial Park’s first tenant, which will employ 10 people initially and offer more jobs in the future.
Infrastructure improvements supported by the grant will make it possible for K&S Lumber Co. to build a wood processing plant to produce railroad ties and secondary wood products including wood chips and firewood.
“When a timber or wood-related industry locates in a community, the economic effects are widespread,” Bentley said. “It not only employs people at the plant, it also provides business opportunities for the owner of the trees, the timber cutting crews and the drivers that deliver wood to the plant and finished products to the buyers.”
The Community Development Block Grant funding will help provide infrastructure improvements including water and sewer services to the industrial park property off Convalescent Road. The city is providing $28,000 in local funding for the project.
K&S will build a 6,000-square-foot processing facility on the property. The company plans to provide wooden railroad ties for rail operations in central Alabama and to sell byproducts from the tie construction. The company anticipates adding production of other wood-related products in the future, requiring additional employees.
Bentley notified Mayor Glenn Crawford that the grant had been approved.
The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the grant from funds made available to the state by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. ADECA administers a wide range of programs that support law enforcement, economic development, infrastructure upgrades, recreation, energy conservation, water resources, job training and career development.
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Contact Jim Plott or Larry Childers