Jonesboro leaders briefed on $2M site grant, airport EDA award and $88M workforce effort

Mark Young, reporting for Jonesboro Unlimited and the Jonesboro Chamber of Commerce, told a City Council committee that Jonesboro received $2,000,000 from an Arkansas Economic Development Commission site-development pilot to extend water service to the 612-acre Craighead Technology Park South.

"Back in the summer, we held a groundbreaking for a waterline extension in the Craighead Technology Park South," Young said, adding that the waterline work will support the property acquired roughly 3 1/2 years ago and make the site more competitive for industrial users.

The chamber representative said the state pilot originally totaled $10,000,000 and that Jonesboro’s award represented a significant share. Young also said the legislature has allocated another $50,000,000 for site-development grants over the next two years and that Jonesboro is preparing a sewer-service application for the same property; the sewer application was described as about 90% complete with a Nov. 7 deadline.

Young highlighted other infrastructure and grant activity, including a U.S. Economic Development Administration grant of $5,000,000 toward a $6,000,000 project for a new terminal at the Jonesboro Municipal Airport.…