Arkansas legislators completed their first use of Amendment 82 Tuesday morning, with the passing of the appropriation bill to provide financing and tax breaks to Big River Steel.
The $1.1 billion project, being brought to the area by former Nucor executive John Correnti, is slated to be built on Mississippi County's "super site" just south of Osceola.
According to Joe Holmes with the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, the legislative hurdles are over, and the next steps are doing the steps necessary to close the business deal between the state and Big River, beginning with ratifying the agreement and starting the process of issuing general obligation bonds. A certain amount of money from private investors must be in place, however, before any taxpayer funds are spent.
"Our goal is to close the deal by the end of the third quarter this year," he said. "It must be completed by Dec. 31, but the hope is to get it done by late summer or early fall. The company itself now has to get its financing in order, and there is a lot of bond work to be done by lawyers now."
Mississippi County's Quorum Court has approved $14.5 million in local money to be committed to the project for land purchase and gas pipeline work, provided that the deal remains stable and the state money has also been fully approved.
In Monday's meeting of the Court's Finance Committee, justices agreed that they are hopeful and feel positive about the project, but will remain uncertain until groundbreaking takes place.
Correnti has echoed these sentiments, saying that because of the conglomerate nature of the private business deal, being handled by a European bank, delays or other complications are always a possibility if any one investor decides to back out. He has, however, remained consistent with his projection that groundbreaking should take place between late summer and early fall, if all goes according to plan.
sharris@blythevillecourier.com