The Covington County Economic Development Commission on Thursday received a $440,220 grant to acquire 110 acres on Hwy. 55 near Red Level for development as an industrial site.

CCEDC Executive Director Jacob Morgan, who works on economic development across the county, said he’s needed a site to promote.
Thanks to the SEEDS program, now he does, he said Thursday. The CCEDC grant was one of 21 State Industrial Development Grants (SIDA) totalling $15.7 million Gov. Kay Ivey announced earlier this year. The grants fall under the Site Evaluation and Economic Development Strategy (SEEDS) program.

“We’ve been working on this for three years,” Morgan said, adding that CCEDC worked with location strategies consultants to determine the best spot to promote.

“We’ve had an army of eyes look at this and say, “This is a very good site,” he said.

Known as the Williams Site, the industrial space is located near River Falls and Red Level.

Greg Knighton, senior project manager with the Department of Commerce, was on hand for the presentation Thursday, as was Greg Blalock, project director for the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama.

Morgan said the property has already caught the eye of officials currently working to locate several companies. It has utilities from Covington Electric Cooperative, the Town of River Falls, and Southeast Gas. It also will have rail access, Morgan said.

“You hear every community say they hope to create jobs,” Morgan said. “Hope without action is never a good strategy. This project represents hope in action. It shows how we take deliberate steps to bring employment to our area and put food on people’s tables. We are not sitting back and waiting for something good to happen. We have acted, made sacrifices and pulled together to make Covington County an even better place to live and work.”

Covington Electric Cooperative agreed to loan the required match of $219,780 to obtain the grant. The county also committed $10,000 to secure an option on the property.