SOUTH POINT – County residents will be able to find jobs close to home once developers turn a former ethanol plant and its grounds into an industrial park in South Point, area development officials say.

Monday, July 31, 2000

SOUTH POINT – County residents will be able to find jobs close to home once developers turn a former ethanol plant and its grounds into an industrial park in South Point, area development officials say.

The Greater Lawrence County Area Chamber of Commerce recently entered into an agreement with Ashland Oil to purchase 504 acres of land on the site of the former South Point Ethanol plant, said Roger Haley, industrial plant manager/site manager for the project for the chamber.

"We have been approved for the federal and state grants that we have applied for to purchase the land from Ashland Oil," Haley said. "We are currently waiting on those funds to be made available to us before we can finalize the deal."

He said the money needed to purchase the industrial park could be made available within the next six weeks.

The South Point Ethanol plant has been shut down for nearly four years. Allied Signal acquired the site in the 1940s and shut the plant down in 1979. Following the plant closing, Ashland Oil bought the facality and entered into a partnership to form South Point Ethanol. The federal government was subsidizing ethanol. When the subsidies ran out in 1996, the plant closed.

"Once we purchase the land, we will have some cleaning up to do," Haley said. "Cleanup will take some time, but we could very easily allow a company to come in there as early as the end of this year … once the deal is finalized. The chamber already has industrial businesses inquiring about the park."

Tenants within the proposed industrial park will be able to ship by rail, water or highway according to their shipping needs, he said.

"This site is perfect for industries because they will have a real advantage on shipping," Haley said. "Another advantage tenants will have is the park is adjacent to the village which will be providing water, sewage, police and fire protection benefits. They also have electricity and gas in the site as well."

South Point is currently in the process of annexing the land to benefit industrial businesses, Mayor Bill Gaskin said.

"We’ve gone through the process and now we’re just waiting on the finalization of the annexation," Gaskin said. "We’re not after money; we’re after the jobs. The village doesn’t even have an income tax on area jobs, so money is not the issue."

The facility has received full attention from the county commissioners, state officials and various other agencies, he said.

"Everyone’s working real hard for us," Gaskin said.

Officials are currently preparing a layout for the industrial park and chamber officials have began marketing the site, Haley said.

"Woolpert Consultants in Ashland is currently working on the master plan," he said. "We want to make this a first-class park. Currently, we are working with Ohio University to place a training facility on the site to aid in preparing workers for jobs within the park. We have already began marketing the site and we’ve had several major companies talk to us."