Community Renewal Good Stories - Greene-Sumter County

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Facilities Upgrade Promotes Growth in Rural Alabama

Greene-Sumter County, Alabama, RC

Although one of the busiest exits off Interstate 20/59 can be found in Alabama's Greene-Sumter County RC, problems with the local sewage system deterred area business expansion until the RC provided matching funds that leveraged $669,000 and helped the Greene County Commission rebuild the sewage system. This upgrade not only saved 114 local jobs, it also created the opportunity for a major gaming industry expansion that added 200 new ones.

In an area that suffers from a 12-percent unemployment rate, the new jobs have made a tremendous impact; they could mean an annual difference to the local economy of up to $10 million. Greene- Sumter's RC designation also allowed the project owners to take a $500,000 CRD against the cost of rehabilitating the sewage system. The owners thus can deduct the $500,000 in expenses evenly over just 10 years instead of the normal 39 years for projects not located in an RC, saving them thousands of dollars in taxes. Because of the sewage system renovation, several other businesses are now considering locating near the exit.

For more information on the Greene-Sumter RC and its programs, contact RC Executive Director Donald Means at (205) 652-7408, or e-mail greenesu@bellsouth.net.