🏗 North Carolina Awards $2M for Rural Development

The North Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority announced recently that it awarded ten utility account grants, totaling more than $2 million to rural communities across the state. 

Two of those grants were designated for Gaston County Businesses, according to a press release from the RIA.  

• The RIA, a board of the North Carolina Department of Commerce, is in charge of distributing rural grants, community development block grants and utility account grants.

Utility account grants help municipalities develop commercially and economically with the building reuse program and the industrial development fund. 

The RIA awarded $350,000 toward the renovation of a nearly 300,000-square-foot building in Mount Holly that is occupied by Boxman Studios, a company that creates and installs temporary or permanent buildings for clients.

An additional $230,000 was allotted to Gaston County for the expansion of a 32,000-square-foot building in Bessemer City occupied by Connor Brothers Machine, a business that makes custom parts for manufacturing equipment. 

The specific goal of the funding is to create new jobs in rural communities and generate more private investments into the community’s local economy, according to the release. 

“Boxman Studios plans to create 68 jobs while investing $324,929,” the release said, adding that Connors Brothers Machine is expected to “add 31 new jobs with an investment of $4,000,000 in this project.”

The North Carolina Department of Commerce website describes the program as a way to bring life back to old buildings and make them useful again. Click here for more information.