At their December 1, 2022 meeting, the Golden LEAF Board of Directors selected Warren County for SITE Identification support through its SITE Program. The SITE Program – Identification provides assistance to a community from a firm contracted by Golden LEAF to help identify potential industrial sites in the community. Warren County was the only community selected to receive assistance in this cycle of SITE Program for site identification.
"The Golden LEAF Board of Directors established the SITE Program to help rural communities make sites available for development to attract new businesses and create opportunities for existing businesses to expand,” said Scott T. Hamilton, Golden LEAF President, Chief Executive Officer. “This project will help Warren County identify potential industrial sites for development.”
The SITE Program offers resources to help communities identify potential sites for economic development, provides funding to complete due diligence on publicly controlled sites, and provides funding to extend public utilities to publicly controlled sites or to conduct clearing and rough grading of publicly owned sites. The three phases of the SITE Program are Identification, Due Diligence, and Development.
“Participation in the SITE Program - Identification phase will allow us to further understand where we should be targeting our work and investments for marketable and attractive sites for the type of growth we aim to see,” stated Charla Duncan, Warren County Community & Economic Development Director.
“As we look to prioritize infrastructure expansion, pursue development agreements with landowners, and support landowners in marketing their land,” continued Duncan, “we need a better understanding of competitive sites and where to strategically invest our resources.”
“I am appreciative that Golden LEAF has recognized the potential and value that we see here in Warren County,” stated County Manager Vincent Jones. “Our inclusion in this program will provide us with yet another tool that will help Warren County strategically prepare for the kind of growth and development that is appropriate for Warren County.”
The Golden LEAF Foundation was established in 1999 to administer a portion of the tobacco settlement agreement monies back into North Carolina's rural and economically distressed communities. Its mission
is to increase economic opportunity in North Carolina’s rural, tobacco-dependent, and economically distressed communities through leadership in grantmaking, collaboration, innovation, and stewardship.
For more information about Warren County Community & Economic Development, contact Charla
Duncan, Director of Community & Economic Development, at 252-257-3115. For more information about
Golden LEAF visit www.goldenleaf.org.