On Nov. 30, the Moore County Economic Development Partnership (MCEDP) acquired a 73-acre parcel of land in Aberdeen that will contain the Iron Horse Industrial Park. This makes Iron Horse the first publicly controlled industrial park site in Moore County.
“Today is a momentous day in my organization’s history. For the first time ever, we have land under our ownership that we can develop to help recruit quality jobs to Moore County,” said Natalie Hawkins, MCEDP President.
Over the last two years, MCEDP has accumulated nearly $2 million in grant and other funding to acquire and develop the 73-acre parcel. Most of the funding, or $1.2 million, came from a state-directed grant made possible by Sen. Tom McInnis. Moore County and the Town of Aberdeen also provided loans of $200,000 each to MCEDP to acquire the land.
“We have so many to thank for making closing on this property possible, including Sen. McInnis, the Moore County Board of Commissioners, the Town of Aberdeen Commissioners, NC Department of Transportation, Aberdeen & Rockfish Railroad, the MCEDP Board of Directors, and Three Rivers Land Trust,” said Hawkins.
“We plan to move quickly with our development activities to expedite recruitment of business and industry to the site. Clearing of the site is planned to occur in January or February, and construction of a public industrial access road from NC Hwy 211 should begin early next year,” said Hawkins.
Moore County Economic Development Partnership is a 501c(3) not-for-profit economic development organization and public-private partnership serving all of Moore County, NC. MCEDP’s mission is to “increase economic prosperity and improve the quality of life for Moore County’s citizens through the creation of quality jobs and capital investment in our communities.” To enhance the entrepreneurial ecosystem, MCEDP facilitated Moore County being designated a Certified Entrepreneurial Community® in 2022 and provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses.
For more information about MCEDP, visit www.moorecountyedp.org.
Contributed/Courtesy photo.
