The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development offers the Site Development Grant as part of its Rural Economic Opportunity Fund to support the enhancement and certification of industrial sites across the state. The program is designed to improve Tennessee’s Select Tennessee certified sites and prepare additional sites for certification, with a focus on strengthening community economic development and job creation.
Funding supports a broad range of activities including the construction of infrastructure such as access roads and utility extensions, site grading, drainage improvements, property acquisition, and required due diligence studies. Special provisions are included for brownfield remediation and speculative building construction when projects meet specific program requirements. The maximum grant amount is $5 million for Site Development Grants and $100,000 for Due Diligence Grants, with matching funds required based on the county’s economic tier.
Eligibility is limited to governmental entities within Tennessee such as city and county governments, Industrial Development Boards, and special district governments. Sites must be at least 20 acres (10 acres in Tier 3 and Tier 4 counties), publicly owned or under public control, and must have undergone evaluation through approved site certification programs. Sites with open Site Development Grant projects are not eligible to apply.
Applications for the 2025 Round 2 cycle require submission of a Letter of Intent by August 21, 2025, with final applications due September 18, 2025. Community presentations will take place in November 2025, with awards announced in December 2025 and contracts beginning in February 2026. The grant opportunity is recurring, with an internal review date set for July 29, 2025, for future cycles.
For more information, applicants can contact Stuart C. McWhorter at ECD.Communications.Office@tn.gov or (615) 741-1888. Detailed guidelines and additional application resources are available through the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.
