On Thursday, Dec. 4, the Rural Infrastructure Authority (RIA) announced that it has approved 15 grant requests for local governments totaling $5,042,113. The public investment in these projects is expected to attract more than $104 million in private sector investment.

Included in those approvals, the RIA approved 13 grant requests under the state’s Building Reuse Program, which  provides grants to local governments to renovate vacant buildings, renovate and/or expand buildings occupied by existing North Carolina companies, and renovate, expand or construct health care facilities that will lead to the creation of new jobs in Tier 1 and Tier 2 counties, as well as in rural census tracts of Tier 3 counties.

Bladen County has been awarded a $220,000 grant under that program in the Vacant Building Category. The fund will be used to  support the reuse of a 26,400-square-foot building in Elizabethtown. The site will be occupied by VectorTex USA, LTD, an advanced manufacturer of innovative technologies for the medical device and aquaculture industries. The project will create 29 jobs overall, with an investment of $236,400.

“The rural grant programs are vital to North Carolina’s economic prosperity,” said N.C. Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley in a press release. “These grant awards are a testament to the assets that attract companies across all sectors to every corner of our state, including a world-class workforce, a central East Coast location, and a great quality of life.”

Additionally, the RIA approved two grant requests under the state’s Industrial Development Fund – Utility Account program, one of which was given to the Town of Bladenboro in Bladen County. 

An $850,000 grant will assist the town with wastewater infrastructure improvements, including a new pump station and force main, to help provide capacity for future industrial and commercial growth.