Camden County green business park takes root

CAMDEN COUNTY

Sparked by federal stimulus money, a nonprofit announced plans Monday to lease 10 acres from Camden County near the Chesapeake border to start a long-delayed green commerce park.

Green Eco Institute Inc., founded six months ago specifically for the Camden industrial site, plans to build at least three buildings as incubators for new businesses in such fields as alternative energy and recycling, said Peter Thomson, senior associate with Green Eco Institute.

Green industries have access to federal grants for start up money and access to new markets as the government requires more environmentally friendly construction.

Eleven businesses have expressed interest in the park, including four that would start in the incubator section, Thomson said.

"A lot of people thought of this eco park as sweet and green and not much value to anybody," Thomson said. "That's where they go wrong. There's a really good bottom-line story to this."

Green Eco Institute could also get grants to construct buildings that would include features such as solar heating and storm water recycling, he said.

Located about 2.5 miles south of the state line, the entire industrial site consists of 100 acres, including a 34-acre pond. About 62 acres can be developed, said Camden County manager Randell Woodruff.

Proposed two years ago, the green park was intended to replace a mega landfill expected to earn Camden County more than $1 million annually. A state law, supported by Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Dare, outlawed the landfill. Basnight pledged he would back a green commerce park.

Early on, the commerce park was viewed as a long shot. A study conducted last year on the feasibility of the park concluded it would cost about $40 million to build.

So far, construction estimates are much less. Site work, engineering and construction of the three buildings are estimated to cost $2.3 million, Thomson said.

Basnight gets much of the credit for a $2 million grant awarded in March to Camden County from the Golden Leaf Foundation, an organization that distributes money from a settlement with cigarette manufacturers. The grant will pay for new sewer lines up to and into the commerce park, Woodruff said. Camden plans to get more grants for road construction.

"One cost is academic and the other is real life," Thomson said. "The work can be done in stages."

Companies could be operating in the park by the end of 2010, Thomson said. While Camden County goes through permitting and engineering required by the state, Green Eco Institute plans to recruit industry and raise money to build roads and buildings within the park.

The green commerce park could become an international model, Basnight and Rep. Bill Owens, D-Pasquotank, wrote in a letter to Camden County commissioners. They compared the park to the Research Triangle Park west of Raleigh formed in the 1950s after a partnership between government and business leaders.

Jeff Hampton, (252) 338-0159, jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com