WILLIAMSTOWN -- The West Virginia Economic Development Authority has approved an additional $43.3 million in tax-free bonds to help pay for construction of the Longview power plant near Morgantown.
The bonds approved Thursday for the Longview power plant are the second issue approved by the authority. In November, $17.2 million in bonds were approved. In April 2007 the authority said it would issue up to $600 million in bonds to help finance the $1.8 billion project.
Longview is currently under construction. It is the first coal-fired plant to be built in West Virginia since 1993. During Thursday's meeting David Warner, the authority's executive director, passed around photos of the construction site, which he visited Wednesday.
Warner said there are about 550 construction workers currently on site. He said that number is expected to swell to 1,500 by the end of the year. "It's an impressive construction project - probably one of the larger on the East Coast right now," he said.
Longview is expected to begin generating electricity in 2010.
In other action, the authority gave preliminary approval to two loans and declined to take action on a third. It approved a $427,500 low-interest loan to help Control Point Machining and Fabrication Inc. of Charleston acquire the assets of Yeardley Engineering.
According to a fact sheet passed out at the meeting, Control Point will acquire the assets of Yeardley, which has been in business since 1965. Control Point will retain the Yeardley employees. Gregory Joseph is Control Point's president.
Also approved: A $329,275 low-interest loan to ThreeSquare Limited Liability Co. to help pay for the renovation of a three-story building in downtown Martinsburg. David Levine, Monica Levine and Mark Wirt, all of Martinsburg, are members of the company, according to information posted on Secretary of State Betty Ireland's online business database.
WILLIAMSTOWN -- The West Virginia Economic Development Authority has approved an additional $43.3 million in tax-free bonds to help pay for construction of the Longview power plant near Morgantown.
The bonds approved Thursday for the Longview power plant are the second issue approved by the authority. In November, $17.2 million in bonds were approved. In April 2007 the authority said it would issue up to $600 million in bonds to help finance the $1.8 billion project.
Longview is currently under construction. It is the first coal-fired plant to be built in West Virginia since 1993. During Thursday's meeting David Warner, the authority's executive director, passed around photos of the construction site, which he visited Wednesday.
Warner said there are about 550 construction workers currently on site. He said that number is expected to swell to 1,500 by the end of the year. "It's an impressive construction project - probably one of the larger on the East Coast right now," he said.
Longview is expected to begin generating electricity in 2010.
In other action, the authority gave preliminary approval to two loans and declined to take action on a third. It approved a $427,500 low-interest loan to help Control Point Machining and Fabrication Inc. of Charleston acquire the assets of Yeardley Engineering.
According to a fact sheet passed out at the meeting, Control Point will acquire the assets of Yeardley, which has been in business since 1965. Control Point will retain the Yeardley employees. Gregory Joseph is Control Point's president.
Also approved: A $329,275 low-interest loan to ThreeSquare Limited Liability Co. to help pay for the renovation of a three-story building in downtown Martinsburg. David Levine, Monica Levine and Mark Wirt, all of Martinsburg, are members of the company, according to information posted on Secretary of State Betty Ireland's online business database.
An $800,000 loan to the Hayes Scott Rustic Fence and Lumber Co. Inc. of Mill Creek was not approved for lack of a motion. Warner said this morning, "We're working with the company to arrive at a financing solution to their needs."
In other action, the authority gave MPH Hotels Inc. a 60-day extension to purchase 2.09 acres at the Three Springs Business Park in Weirton. The authority agreed in February to sell the land to the company for $350,000.
MPH Hotels is headquartered in North Barrington, Ill. According to the company's Web site, it is developing an 87-unit Fairfield Inn & Suites in Weirton. The company's Web site says MPH Hotels currently owns 14 hotels, including a Wingate Inn in Vienna and a Baymont Inn in Weirton.
The authority gave final approval to two loans: a $695,000 loan to W.A. Wilson & Sons Inc. of Wheeling for the purchase of glass tempering equipment and a $790,000 loan to HAGO Co. to help finance a 25,000-square-foot expansion to W.A. Wilson & Sons' plant.
In other action, the authority endorsed a plan to revise the boundaries of an existing foreign trade zone at DuPont's Belle plant to accommodate the Kureha Corp. Kureha is building a $100 million specialty plastics plant inside DuPont's fence line.
Duty-free treatment is given to items that are processed in foreign trade zones and then re-exported. Duty payment is deferred until items are brought out of the zone for sale in the United States.
The authority met in Hino Motors' conference room. Following the meeting members of the authority's board of directors toured the truck assembly plant, which the authority helped finance.
