| Steel mill possible at Cates Landing |
By: By JOHN BRANNON Messenger Staff Reporter
|
|
By JOHN BRANNON
Messenger Staff Reporter
The crown jewel of high hopes for economic development in northwest Tennessee: A steel mill in Lake County.
No wishful thinking, this. No visions of sugarplums dancing in Christmas heads. It’s the real thing.
Lake County Mayor Macie Roberson knows.
“Economic development-wise, a plant of this magnitude would be unreal for Lake, Dyer and Obion counties,” he said.
Here are the basics as The Messenger has been able to determine them:
• A corporation that produces rolled steel is interested in building a new plant at Cates Landing.
• The new plant would be a $250 million investment and would provide 500 jobs that pay an average of $18 to $20 per hour.
• Cates Landing is located on the east bank of an oxbow of the Mississippi River about six miles west of Tiptonville in Lake County. The Northwest Tennessee Port Authority is in the process of building a $20 million complex that includes a deep-water harbor and an industrial park at the site.
Initial steps in construction began last week when Coffey Construction Company of Hickman, Ky., began moving rock to build a dike on 280 acres on the river bank.
• The new plant will need about 500 acres of land. Lake County officials are working to acquire the acreage. Condemnation proceedings are already under way for 350 acres; a separate lawsuit targets 150 additional acres for condemnation.
• The corporation — name withheld by request — already has two plants in operation in other states. The plants have access to railroad and interstate transportation, but not to a river.
Cates Landing would provide river access and the benefits of barge transportation. Some rolled sheets of steel are so large, they cannot be transported by rail or highway. But they can be shipped by barge.
• Tennessee is competing with Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana for the new plant. Roberson said he and others have been working with the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development for an incentive “package” to entice the company to choose the Cates Landing location.
“We know that Osceola, Ark., has put together a very attractive package that includes about $60 million in incentives,” he said. “This is an excellent prospect for us and that’s the reason we’re urging the state to provide incentives to it to come here. Negotiations are ongoing. I’ve spent three or four hours a day on it for several weeks.”
Meanwhile, they have high hopes and are planning ahead.
“We in Lake County are working on the electricity and water infrastructure. The state is working on the highway infrastructure,” Roberson said.
“I think we’ll know something definite by Jan. 1.”
Published in The Messenger on 11.30.07 |
|
Printer-friendly format
|
|
