Nearly half a million dollars in federal funds are helping ready an industrial property in Lumberton for new businesses and jobs. In August, the North Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority (RIA) approved a request by the City of Lumberton for economic development funds under the Small Cities Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. CDBG dollars have for years helped communities build infrastructure. But in this instance, the infrastructure is already in place. All that is needed is financial assistance to demolish two dilapidated buildings on the site that have no marketable use or tax value.
“We feel like in about six months we’ll have everything completed and can turn the property over to the Robeson County Office of Economic Development to begin marketing,” says Wayne Horne, Lumberton City Manager. The two buildings, dating to the 1920s and 1940s, once housed textile production operations. The site has industrial-grade power, ample water and wastewater service, and sits beside a rail spur that connects to the CSX mainline running between Charlotte and Wilmington. “You can see the CSX railroad from the site,” Horne says. “It would be ideal for manufacturing or distribution operations.”
Supported by the Rural Economic Development Division at the N.C. Department of Commerce, the RIA distributes CDBG funds to all counties except Cumberland, Mecklenburg and Wake and all municipalities except the 24 “entitlement” communities [those local governments work directly with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on CDBG requests]. Recent General Assembly action expanded the program to include building demolition in instances where job creation might reasonably occur on re-developed industrial properties. RIA’s $495,000 grant to Lumberton marks the first time the CDBG small cities program funded building demolition in North Carolina.