UPDATED - </b $1.9 million grant awarded for rail facility at business park » Top Stories

UPDATED - </b $1.9 million grant awarded for rail facility at business park

Randy Cowling The Claremore Daily Progress Thu Aug 06, 2009, 10:41 AM CDT

August 6, 2009 — It is an exciting day for Tim Hight and for Claremore’s economic development future.

Late Wednesday afternoon Hight, executive director for the Claremore Industrial and Economic Development Authority, received notification that Claremore will be the beneficary of a $1.9 million grant from the Economic Development Administration. Sen. Jim Inhofe announced the grant award from Washington D. C.

“It’s just the jolt we need,” an excited Hight said Thursday morning. “We’ve been working on this grant for 1 1/2 years. We’re completely shocked it happened so soon.”

The $1.9 million will enable the construction of a regional railroad-based trans-modal facility in the North Business Park.

“I am pleased to announce today an Economic Development Administration grant of $1.9 million that will benefit Claremore and the surrounding region in Rogers County,” Inhofe said in a news release. “This investment in Claremore will help spur additional economic growth for the city and surrounding area as a reliable transportation hub for goods. I have long been a supporter of EDA programs and am happy to see investments being directed to local infrastructure projects.”

The EDA investment will fund construction of a regional railroad-based trans-modal facility in the Claremore North Business Park, according to the U. S. Department of Commerce. The new facility will enhance the ability of regional manufacturing entities to transport goods and will help the region become disaster resilient by providing additional, alternative transportation options during major flooding events and severe weather.

Hight said the EDA will require that construction begin within the next 24 months. CIEDA will initiate a feasibility study to determine where the rail facility will be constructed to provide maximum access for future plants at the 255-acre park.

During the study, Hight said CIEDA will decide which rail carrier it will work with to construct the new facility.

As Chairman of the EPW Committee in 2004, Inhofe sponsored the last reauthorization of EDA. Since it was reauthorized, the EDA has awarded $28.2 million in project and infrastructure funding in Oklahoma which has been leveraged with $30 million in state dollars and $560 million in private investments.

The $1.9 million award comes only days after the Claremore City Council gave its approval to create a review committee to establish a Tax Increment District that would shift property taxes to redevelopment for up to 25 years for an area that will include the northern industrial park areas.

“Since Monday, we’ve already had inquiries from businesses on how the TID will benefit them,” Hight said. With the future addition of rail access, several potential companies are also showing interest in locating in Claremore, he said.

“Fifty percent of all site selection searches involves the availability of rail,” Hight said.

Within two years, Claremore’s business park could be just the place companies select to make home.

CIEDA applied for the grant following the 2007 ice storms that left the Port of Catoosa’s shipping at a standstill. The grant will allow for additional rail transportation if another weather event were to stop shipping at the port, Hight said.

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