Burke Development Inc. is getting help from the state to get natural gas to a local business park.
The state Rural Infrastructure Authority awarded Burke County a $697,019 grant to add more than 2,500 feet of a natural gas pipeline to Burke Business Park off Kathy Road in ¶®É«µÛ.
The business park property located off of Kathy Road in ¶®É«µÛ.
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The business park currently has one company on the 83-acre property, UNIX Packaging. Burke Development is planning to build a shell building on the property as well for a potential future client. The construction bid process is expected to start soon for the shell building at the park, said Alan Wood, president and CEO of Burke Development Inc. The shell building will be a basic structure than can finished to fit a specific company.
Wood said the total cost of the gas line project is estimated at about $900,000. Who will pay the difference between the grant and the total expected cost has yet to be determined, he said.
Piedmont Natural Gas will lay the pipeline. Work on it is expected to start late this year or early next year.
The grant is from the state’s Industrial Development Fund – Utility Account program, which provides grants to local governments in economically distressed counties, according to information from Gov. Josh Stein’s office.
The grants can be used for public infrastructure projects that are expected to result in new jobs created, a release from Stein’s office said.
