NASHVILLE -- State Building Commission members Thursday morning unanimously approved a $64.2 million state grant that will help build electrical and other infrastructure for the planned $1 billion Wacker Chemical Corp. in Bradley County.
The approval was unanimous after a brief delay as officials sought to ensure that all technical requirements involving the bonds being used to fund most of the grant were satisfied.
The funds are being channeled through the Southeast Tennessee Development District.
Economic and Community Development Commissioner Matt Kisber said the $56.9 million from bond proceeds will used to construct electrical infrastructure at the Cleveland-area site. The remaining $7.3 million, which is coming from current funds, will be used for water, sewer and rail infrastructure.
The state promised the funds in its incentive package.
Commissioner Kisber said construction is scheduled to begin late this year or early 2011.
Wacker is the world's second largest producer of hyperpure polycrystalline silicon, used in solar panels. Five hundred people are expected to work at the plant.
Andy Sher is a Nashville-based staff writer covering Tennessee state government and politics for the Times Free Press. A Washington correspondent from 1999-2005 for the Times Free Press, Andy previously headed up state Capitol coverage for The Chattanooga Times, worked as a state Capitol reporter for The Nashville Banner and was a contributor to The Tennessee Journal, among other publications. Andy worked for 17 years at The Chattanooga Times covering police, health care, county government, ...
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