A major Wiregrass project is getting a $500,000 grant to speed it along. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey recently announced a community development block grant to assist Rex Lumber Co. in constructing a $110 million sawmill operation in Pike County that will employ 110 people. The project was announced in February.
“This project is further proof that the construction and timber industries are on the upswing in Alabama and are creating new job opportunities for our residents,” Ivey said in a statement. “I am pleased to support this project as part of my administration’s commitment to encourage new or expanding business and industry in our state and provide jobs.”
CDBG funds will be used to resurface Orion Road from the plant to U.S. 231 north of Troy. About 140 trucks per day are expected to travel to and from the plant. The Pike County Commission has also pledged $500,000 for the road project. The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the grant from funds made available by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Rex Lumber Co. will be located on a 294-acre site near Meeksville. The complex, expected to begin production a year after construction begins, will include a sawmill, two lumber storage facilities, three kilns and two finish facilities.
The Pike County sawmill is expected to produce 240 million board feet of lumber annually.
From AL.com: https://www.al.com/business/index.ssf/2018/06/500000_grant_to_aid_110_millio.html