Senator Feinstein Announces $5.8 million in
Economic Development Grants for Tulare County
August 23, 2000

Tulare, Calif. -- U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today announced that the Department of Commerce, as part of their Economic Development Administration (EDA) program, has awarded $5.8 million in grants for economic development programs in Tulare County, including $2 million for the Visalia Waste Water Expansion Project.

“These funds will help Visalia expand its infrastructure and attract businesses and jobs to the county,” Senator Feinstein said. “This is good news for Visalia, good news for Tulare and good news for the region.”

In addition to the $2 million for the Visalia Waste Water Expansion Project, the Commerce Department awarded to the Tulare County Redevelopment Agency and the City of Visalia $2.1 million to construct new roads and upgrade existing roads to improve access from Highway 99 to Goshen and Visalia industrial areas.

Also, the Commerce Department awarded the City of Tulare $1.7 million for improvements in the Laspina Street alignment. This will serve existing businesses and provide better access to industrial and commercial properties.

These grants follow an announcement two weeks ago that Visalia would receive a $3.7 million guaranteed loan from the Department of Housing and Urban Development for the Waste Water Expansion project and a grant of $675,000 to pay the interest of the loan.

“When completed, these projects are expected to create 1200 jobs in the county and to substantially increase the city’s manufacturing base,” Senator Feinstein said.