By Staff
October 17, 2002
Dr. David Sampson of the U.S. Department of Commerce delivered a $1.5 million grant to our community on Monday that will help finance water and sewer service to the new I 20/59 Industrial Park. It is a timely, welcome gift.
Despite some initial sputtering, the grant was approved by the Economic Development Administration, which Sampson heads. Sampson's aides said problems with the grant application were worked out through the facilitation of U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering. Sampson credited Pickering with having the kind of positive, can-do attitude that gets the job done.
Now, officials with the East Mississippi Business Development Corp. hope  as we all should hope that the vital work to be funded by this grant can commence as quickly as possible.
We appreciate the willingness of Sampson's federal agency to work through the details of such an important project. Water and sewer service to the I 20/59 Industrial Park is one of the absolutely critical links in a chain of economic development activities that hold great promise for Meridian, Lauderdale County and East Mississippi.
Sampson called the new industrial park "an important economic driver" for this area. The plain fact is that it must be developed in order to attract more good-paying manufacturing and distribution to jobs to Lauderdale County. The federal participation in the water and sewer portions of the industrial park's development is good news for our area.