Whiteville City Council tonight will discuss a new grant that will help bring 200 jobs to downtown, along with one of the last steps toward a major makeover for two streets that are notorious for potholes.
The city received notice last week that the Golden LEAF Foundation has awarded an additional $500,000 in grant funding to help pay for the Provalus project. The tech firm plans to make its new home at 127 W. Columbus Street in downtown Whiteville, and is expected to bring more than 200 good paying jobs to the community.
Provalus is already training workers in temporary quarters in the city, as well as working with Southeastern Community College on a training program. Provalus provides cybersecurity and cloud storage around the world, and has operations in several locations nationwide.
The city and county purchased the former News Reporter Publishing building for $697,000. Renovations and repairs are expected to cost $2.1 million. Provalus will receive a federal tax credit for leasing the building from the city.
Golden LEAF was founded to help tobacco-dependent communities transition to new industries and create jobs outside of tobacco-related agribusiness.
The grant will allow the city to avoid using local funds for the purchase and renovation of the building.
In another agenda matter, the city will consider a contract for engineering services for the infrastructure under Lee and Franklin streets. Both streets are well known for broken and aging water, sewer and wastewater lines that have caused multiple potholes and patches for years. The city plans to use $6.8 million in grant funding to repair all the underground infrastructure before the Department of Transportation begins a new resurfacing project that includes both streets.
The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall, and may be attended in person or viewed online via the city’s website.
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