Beaufort County town receives $1.25 million to begin industrial park construction

AURORA, N.C. (WITN) - The town of Aurora received $1.25 million from the NC Rural Infrastructure funding and the Industrial Development Fund-Utility Account to begin work on infrastructure and site development of the Aurora Industrial Park.

On February 16, the NC Rural Infrastructure department announced a $500,000 grant to support economic development in the Town of Aurora. The grant coupled with a previous allotment of $750,000 from the North Carolina Industrial Development Fund-Utility Account is to begin work on the project.

The park will sit on more than 30 acres of land just off Hwy 33, in Beaufort County. The amount of jobs expected to come from the park is still uncertain.

Phase one of the project is expected to establish the foundation.

“So the funding for this first round from commerce will go to infrastructure. So water and sewer and a roadway here to serve the industrial park,” said Beaufort County Economic Development Director, Brad Hufford.

“If we can’t make this town grow it’s going to go the opposite way and I just can’t stand by and just watch that happen,” said Aurora Mayor, Clif Williams.

“When we came up with the ideas of what this town is going to look like, we’ve had strategic plans in the past, but nothing was ever done. We’re gonna do something with this one,” he added.

A previous grant award of $200,000 received from Golden Leaf Foundation in 2019 along with recent funding brings the total to roughly $2.6 million in grant funding for the industrial park.

Beaufort County Economic Development expects construction to begin as soon as the spring of 2023.