Industrial Development Authority Applies For Two State Grants
By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor
Due to lacking a quorum at the October meeting, the Industrial Development Authority adjusted the November meeting schedule. The IDA held a special called meeting on Nov. 4, canceled the regularly scheduled Nov. 18 meeting, and moved the December meeting up a week (from Dec. 16 to Dec. 9).
Evan Stone (executive director) reported that he was happy with the results of last month’s industrial summit. One result was meetings between Stone and several of the industries that attended. Stone said, “We’re going to discuss a couple potential projects that we may help them with. We’ll do that in executive session.”
Moving on to grants, Stone reported that he learned about two available grants while attending September’s conference in Savannah, Ga. with the Georgia Economic Development Authority. The GRAD Grant has already been applied for, and the IDA is working on a development grant.
William Back (recording secretary) explained that the Georgia Ready for Accelerated Development (GRAD) Certification program applies to the Trenton-Dade Business Park. He said the program was formed because “sometimes it takes a very long time for industry to make sure their property is ready for development. There’s environmental tests. There’s geotechnical surveys sometimes. There’s everything from getting approval from the Indian tribes in the area, the Cherokee in particular if there’s any federal funding involved.”
However, industry likes to move quickly once a location is identified. Back said, “The GRAD program is a state program to identify all potential issues that might slow down development.” Stone added that GRAD certifications are like big green lights for interested industries.
The IDA budgeted about $60,000 to complete all of the steps needed for the certification, but through the GRAD Grant, the IDA requested 70 percent of the total GRAD Certification costs to be covered by the state. The IDA is already moving forward with phase one (the environmental portion) of the certification by requesting bids.
The other grant is much larger (up to $250,000) and would help with site preparation, moving earth, etc. Stone said this would be used for an additional site—not the Dade County Industrial Park or Trenton-Dade Business Park.
The authority entered executive session to discuss covenants and restrictions for the Trenton-Dade Business Park. After executive session, the authority approved the declaration of covenants and restrictions.
