LCDC announces $500k grant for sewer project
The Laurens County Development Corporation announced Tuesday that the county has received a $500,000 grant from the South Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority to help provide infrastructure for the Connexial Center industrial park.
Money from the grant will help with the construction of sewer lines for the park, which is to be located near Exit 19 at I-385 and Highway 14. The development is a joint effort from the Laurens Electric Cooperative, the S.C. Power Team and the LCDC.
“We’ll pair that with another $300,000 grant from the Department of Commerce and some other funds from the S.C. Power Team,” said LCDC Executive Director Jonathan Coleman. “It’s a pretty substantial project at over $1 million, but we won’t have to use any of our local money to do it.”
The Connexial Center could be expanded to as many as 450 acres. The first phase of construction has already begun.
“The RIA supports community projects with the greatest need and addresses infrastructure issues that have the potential to hinder quality of life and economic growth,” said SCRIA Executive Director Bonnie Ammons.
The grant given to Laurens County was among 29 grants totaling nearly $13 million handed out to areas all around the state. The grants are handed out twice per year. All of the grants for this round involved water, sewer or drainage infrastructure.
“It just helps develop the whole area,” Coleman said. “It will provide sewer for that whole area – the park and the area around it. It’s not only for industrial needs, but probably the residential areas they may be built around it.”
