PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- The wheels behind the expansion of the Perryville Industrial Park in Perry County are turning, but the ground on the project has yet to be broken.

The U.S. Department of Commerce on July 25 announced a $1.5 million grant to the city of Perryville and the Missouri Department of Transportation from the Economic Development Administration to help build a roadway for the industrial park.

The EDA is an agency that provides grants to economically distressed communities to generate employment, help retain jobs and stimulate industrial and commercial growth.

"We've got some money coming, and any time you have some money coming, we're pretty tickled," said Chauncy Buchheit, executive director of the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission.

In a July interview with the Southeast Missourian, Buchheit said applying for the expansion of the industrial park was a two-year process. The third time the commission applied, funding was available.

Missouri officials say the money will go toward construction of a two-mile road, including acquisition of the land.

Buchheit said the road will be constructed "somewhere in the vicinity of Highway 51 and Main Street" in Perryville. The road will begin north of the existing industrial park and leave room for expansion of the park in the future, he said.

"This should help relieve some of that congestion at the stoplight of Highway 51 and Highway 61," Buchheit said, and the expansion will create a better route for both truck and employee traffic.

Although two years into the process, construction of the new road has not begun.

"There's still a few little pieces of funding that need to be put in place," Buchheit said.

MODOT is a partner on the project, and will match EDA funding, he previously said.

Perry County and the city of Perryville are working with MODOT to apply for cost-share funds, Buchheit said. The application is due at the end of September, then MODOT will make a presentation to the MODOT Cost-Share/Economic Development Committee in an attempt to receive state funds to assist with their share of the project, he said. The committee will meet sometime in November and make a decision.

And, as is with any major road project, "there has to be some sort of public involvement," Buchheit said, which also postpones the process.

A public participation effort, distributing public notices and creating designs and displays showing the projected routes for the road will take about a year, he said.

TG Missouri is an automotive parts manufacturer located in the industrial park.

Rhonda Ruark, general manager of corporate administration for TG Missouri, said TG Missouri employs about 1,700 full- and part-time employees, and the facility occupies about 246 acres of the industrial park.

Two hundred of TG Missouri's employees are full-time workers hired in 2012 for the expansion of its chrome division, Ruark said. The hiring was part of a commitment the company made to increase employment as a result of funding for the industrial park expansion taking place, she said.

Ruark said the commitment was shared between the community and the company for growth, and help was needed for local and state resources to help make the infrastructure happen.

She characterized the trade-offs by saying, "We'll promise jobs if you promise infrastructure."

Both the industrial park and the community will benefit from the expansion, Ruark said.

The project is expected to create 215 jobs during the next three years.

adowning@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

Plattin Road, Perryville, MO