LEDC gets loan for new building at Point
Published 12:00 am Thursday, December 29, 2005
“If you build it, they will come.”
That was the message from Lawrence County Commissioner George Patterson who, along with the rest of the commission, signed a loan guaranty for a new $500,000 spec building at The Point during Tuesday’s commission meeting.
The loan will be taken out by the Lawrence Economic Development Corporation, to be built at The Point industrial park in South Point.
A similar agreement was reached in 2002, which resulted in the building now being occupied by West Virginia-based Engines Inc. The company recently added a night shift, and now employees around 50 people, said LEDC executive director Dr. Bill Dingus.
Patterson said that he hoped lighting would strike twice in the case of this new structure.
“You may have seen in the movie, ‘If you build it, they will come,’ that’s what we’re doing. We built a building, in brought in jobs, and we’re building another building,” Patterson said. “It’s just a way of creating jobs, and enticing people from wherever they’re at to here.”
This new building will have two 80-foot wide bays and cranes, so heavy manufacturing can take place inside of it. Dingus said that work has already begun on the facility on the LEDC’s dime.
Dingus said that a couple of prospective tenants have already inquired about the new facility, which the LEDC hopes to have completed by the middle of 2006.
“We hope to have this new building finished in late spring or early summer, and hopefully we’ll be as fortunate in getting it filled,” Dingus said.
Dingus said that the $500,000 loan would be interest free for three years.
Also during the meeting, commissioner Doug Malone, Keith Molihan and Chuck Yaniko were appointed to the SEOEMS District Board of Trustees. The commission closed the meeting to discuss a personnel matter.