The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) made the official announcement 
Monday, September 22nd, that the Village of Carey was awarded a $1.5 million grant under the agency’s Public Works Assistance program. The grant money will be used by the village to construct a new substation located on the west side of County Road 96 near the Continental Structural Plastics (CSP) facility, and to fund a pole line upgrade project within the village.
In relation to CSP’s expansion project, the company will add a completely new paint system that will overburden the currently available electrical capacity provided from two different substations within the village. The new substation will be the sole source of electricity to the CSP facility and will have double the capacity required, which will relieve much of the burden currently placed on the system. The grant announcement also grew national attention from U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, who visited the Village of Carey facility on Sept. 26th.
This was a grant made possible by not only the 50 new jobs committed on behalf of CSP as part of the project, but the work that the WCOED had put into forming the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS), which was approved by the EDA in 2013. In the CEDS document, an electrical system upgrade was identified as a priority economic development project in Wyandot County, which helped to show the necessity for this grant. In early 2014, the WCOED began work on the EDA grant application and associated reports including a Preliminary Engineering Report and Environmental Review as well as other necessary items including village resolutions, letters of understanding, commitment letters, funding sources, etc. With help from the Village of Carey Administrator, Roy Johnson, the application package was completed in mid-2014 including a letter of support from U.S. Congressman Bob Latta.
The WCOED is pleased to announce this grant application was funded for $1.5 million, the largest grant that this organization has authored and been a part of. This project will not only serve to help the currently effected business expand, but to allow for future industrial growth in the Village of Carey.