Supervisors and Mayors - along with economic development officials met with Mississippi Senators and Congressmen in Washington, D.C. to discuss "shovel ready" projects which economic stimulus funds could support. While information on the stimulus package is not yet well-known, local officials urged support from the Washington delegation when opportunities arise. Among the projects were Phase II of the Highway 44 project, the new national guard armory, and the development of new hurricane evacuation corridor over Louisiana Highway 25 and Mississippi Highway 27. While in Washington, some officials also met with Alabama, Texas, Georgia, and Louisiana representatives regarding the status of the "El Camino Real" project - the four-laning of U.S. Highway 84 from El Paso, TX to Brunswick, GA. The Mississippi portion of the highway from Natchez, MS to the Alabama line will be completed by the end of 2009.
Lawrence County Supervisors officially accepted the low bid for resurfacing and widening work to be done on N.A. Sandifer Highway from MS 27 to Silver Creek, MS. The road was originally built in the mid-1960’s to support the construction of a St.Regis liner board mill just north of Monticello. Years later, Georgia Pacific bought the facility and continues to operate the world class facility. The original design of the highway was for less than 50,000 pound loads. Today as many as 1200 80,000 pound truckloads per day travel the road. Over two years ago the Lawrence County supervisors were able to get a $2.3 million direct appropriation in the National Transportation Act for assistance in upgrading the highway. However, before the funds reached the county, the amount got lowered to $2.03 million. LCCDA was instrumental in garnering $385,000 in State of Mississippi grant funds to install turn lanes in front of the GP mill. This project will not only improve the usability of the road but will make it much safer for truck and auto traffic.
Jonathan So of EATware paid another visit to Monticello to meet with representatives of Regions Bank and to update local officials on the progress of the startup at the Kellwood facility. The company had hoped to have one production line up and running by December 31st. However, equipment fabrication holdups and financing matters have slowed the process. Jonathan expects the first equipment to be in Monticello by late March 2008. During the visit, Bob Smira arranged for Mr. So and John Kelly, EATware Operations Manager, to meet with Gray Swoope, Executive Director of the Mississippi Development Authority in Jackson. The meeting was held to let the state-level economic development staff know of the company’s latest outlook.