WASHINGTON   –  U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (MO-08) today sent two letters to Missouri Governor Jay Nixon expressing her support for important infrastructure improvements in the Eighth Congressional District.  The grant applications Emerson highlighted are for a new potable water system for the City of Grandin and a Highway 67 bypass to serve the Poplar Bluff Industrial Park, both from the federal Delta Regional Authority.

“All over Southern Missouri, we have communities working hard to make key investments in the infrastructure they will use to grow.  Many, like water infrastructure and transportation projects, are extremely large investments of resources for our rural cities.  But in those cases, we are fortunate to have federal authorities able to lend support to these worthwhile improvements,” said Emerson.  “This is how we assure the future of our rural economy and the continued success of the people who work so hard to make Southern Missouri prosperous.”

The Grandin and Butler County projects are each leveraged by local efforts.  Grandin’s water system is 56 year old, and local residents recently approved a bond issue to support the infrastructure investment.  The Federal Highway Administration has committed $4.5 million to the Poplar Bluff Industrial Park Bypass, for which Butler County is requesting $435,140 to complete.  Libla Industries, Inc., has formed a partnership agreement with the County to support the project.

“It is going to take all of us working together to see these infrastructure projects through to completion.  These projects absolutely have merit and will be a great boon to the quality of life and economic capacity of Grandin and in Butler County.  I am sure Governor Nixon will see the importance of these investments, too, and I hope he will recommend them to the Delta Regional Authority.”

The Delta Regional Authority is a federal entity that works in eight states to leverage economic development and infrastructure investment opportunities through competitive grant processes.