We just received some great news for Panola County and for the development of our recently acquired new industrial property adjacent to the Airport Industrial Complex. 

Earlier this year in May, we submitted an application to Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for a possible grant to help with the development of this newly acquired property for industrial development. The program is called the InvestPrep program and is sponsored by TVA.

This program is an innovative multi-year economic development program designed to bring to market new or improved sites and facilities within the TVA service territory to position communities to successfully complete for new jobs and investments.

 It is a highly competitive program with awards going to communities and projects that most clearly demonstrate preparedness in meeting the goals of the program within an acceptable time frame.
The application was very extensive and included 132 questions and 29 attachments that had to be answered in great detail.

Sixty-nine communities from seven states initially participated in the program with 54 being invited to submit a full application. After the application review, only 23 communities were selected to receive site tours of the properties submitted.

Following the site tours, the finalist communities were reduced to only 18 of which we were one. Our grant request was in the amount of $300,000. At this time we don’t have confirmation if we are going to receive the full amount requested, but we feel confident we will.

We will be traveling to the TVA headquarters in Nashville on November 11 to sign the required documents and at that time we will know for sure how much we will be receiving.

The money will be used to remove all the old farm structures on the property and will be used to remove some of the trees and vegetative matter along the ditches and other areas to allow for the maximum use of the acreage that is available for industrial development.

This property, along with the airport property that is already developed, will give us approximately 500 acres of industrial property to market to prospective companies.

Once completed, this will be one of the largest fully served industrial sites in our region of the state and will give us the opportunity to compete for larger projects that require a large tract of land.

We feel very fortunate to have been selected to receive this grant. These grant funds will significantly reduce the amount of local money it would have taken to perform the work on the property that is critical to putting this property in a marketable condition.

All of the work should be completed in about 6 months.

After the work is completed, we will have one of the nicest industrial parks in all of north Mississippi, and we will have the opportunity to compete for larger projects that were beyond our reach in the past.
Forever forward

Sonny Simmons is executve director of the Panola Partnership.