News & Events

[Source: The Sampson Independent]

Sampson County has been awarded a $22,098 demolition grant from NC Commerce which will aid in further prepping a large plot of land purchased by the county last year for industrial development.

The Demolition Grant Program provides grants to local governments to support the demolition of a vacant building to encourage site rehabilitation and site availability for economic development purposes. The grant will cover 75% of the total projected cost to demolish the vacant and blight structures on the 120-acres purchased by the county in Sampson Southeast Business Center.

The Sampson County Economic Development team prepared the application for this grant. Economic Development Director Stephen Barrington, expressed, “We are grateful to NC Commerce for their continued support of Sampson County’s effort to make Sampson Southeast Business Center more competitive.”

In September 2020, the Sampson Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to spend more than $2 million to purchase approximately 122 acres of property in the Sampson Southeast Business Center as an anchor for its future economic development efforts.

At the beginning of 2021, Sampson was awarded nearly $1.3 million from the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Industrial Development Fund, the first IDF grant ever awarded to the county. The funds were earmarked to extend a roadway and existing water and sewer lines to the county’s newly acquired site.

Last year, Sampson County leaders negotiated the purchase of two separate parcels located on both sides of Industrial Drive and Armory Road, including a 62.7-acre parcel for $1,097,880 and a 59.6-acre parcel for $1,042,790, with closing costs not to exceed $7,500 for either.

The source of funding for the acquisition was a combination of Sampson County’s Economic Development Reserve Fund and its General Fund.