Area to get more than $1 million in Delta Regional Authority grants

The Delta Regional Authority said last week it will provide more than $1 million in grants to help fund infrastructure and entrepreneurship projects in 13 Missouri communities, including seven in Southeast Missouri.

The Delta Regional Authority is a federal-state partnership that supports job creation by providing grants for projects in its region, which covers parts of eight states along the Mississippi River.

* Three Rivers College will receive $200,000 to help purchase a $332,244 mobile training lab. The lab will allow the college to offer customized trainings at employers' job sites, reducing travel expenses and lost travel time. The lab is in a 44-foot trailer equipped to provide training in computer applications, engineering design, industrial electricity, industrial hydraulics, industrial motor controls, industrial pneumatics, industrial sensors and industrial programmable logic controllers. It is expected that a minimum of 400 local workers will be trained annually using the lab.

* The "Fast Trac Growth Venture" in Jackson will receive $63,032 to provide training and support to small businesses that are about two years old, have $750,000 in annual sales and are looking to add employees. The training curriculum to be used is part of Kauffman Foundation's series aimed at small businesses. The total project cost is $84,032, and it is estimated that 118 people will be trained.

* The Port of New Bourbon will receive $85,280 toward the $341,120 total cost to help fund the removal of existing riprap along the shoreline of the Mississippi River to create the entrance into the Port of New Bourbon, a new public port that will serve businesses in Ste. Genevieve, Perry and surrounding counties. The port is being constructed by the New Bourbon Regional Port Authority on public property owned by the Port Authority about three miles south of Ste. Genevieve. The project is estimated to create 75 jobs.

* Levee District 12 in Poplar Bluff, Mo., will receive $163,950 to help prepare documentation necessary to meet Federal Emergency Management Agency standards to once again certify the levee as compliant. Levee District 12 in Butler County recently was classified as provisionally accredited by FEMA. For the levee district to once again be certified as compliant, the county must hire an engineering firm to provide data and documentation about the levee. The total project cost is $180,750. The project affects about 400 families.

* Missouri Delta Ag Bioworks in Sikeston, Mo., will receive $75,000 to research new crops and processes to meet the growing demands of the global economy. The initiative will support farmer-owned, domestic and international investment projects and create jobs. The total project cost is $213,961, and it is estimated that 15 jobs will be created.

* The JumpStarting Missouri Communities Post Flood Project in Cape Girardeau will receive $145,556 to fund the total cost of four six-week classes where the greatest needs are after this spring's severe flooding. Classes will be planned, arranged and recruited for during late 2011 and early 2012 and will be conducted from early March through mid-September 2012. It is estimated 80 people to be trained and 35 jobs will be created.

* Cape Girardeau will receive $100,000 toward the $1 million total project cost to construct an impervious lining in Cape LaCroix Creek. The lining is intended to block water flow that escapes from the creek through ground crevices, causing sinkholes and flooding. The project is expected to help retain 165 jobs.