Officials weigh $3 billion investment into Sullivan Co.
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Several major investments could come to Sullivan County.
Sullivan County Commissioners on Tuesday approved economic development agreements with five solar companies and one power plant that combine for over $3 billion worth of investment.
Sullivan County Commissioner Robert Davis said that these are exciting times for the county.
“Each one of these companies is going to invest a lot, it’s going to be around three and a half billion,” Davis said.
Many in the county could potentially benefit financially particularly the farmers who are leasing the land to make it possible for these companies to choose Sullivan County.
“The farmers can make more money per acre with no input costs and their property is still theirs,” Davis explained. “It’s going to make them more money over the years.”
The economic development agreement goes to the county council for final approval. The main concern from officials at the meeting was ensuring that these business hire local jobs. Sullivan County Council Vice President Jackie Monk said that will be requirement for any tax abatements for these companies.
“I want it in the abatement that they hire within our county,” Monk said. “I want to know what the hourly wage is that they’re going to pay for these workers in the county.”
There’s still time for the commissioners to work these through before the county council mulls this over at their next meeting.
“Some other language on some other labor issues also need to be taken care of,” Davis explained.
Monk couldn’t say specifically how many jobs these projects would create, but she assured that it would create dozens. She hinted that there could be more investment in the county next year as the companies could come back with other projects.
The next commissioner meeting will be held on December 19th. The county council meeting will be held on the 20th.
You can view the full report from WTWO’s newscast by clicking here.