An investment from the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority should make it more attractive for employers to invest in Logan County.

KEDFA in October approved a Product Development Initiative grant of $335,361 that will help the Logan Industrial Development Authority prepare a 52-acre site that is being added to the county’s West Industrial Park.

Combined with a Tennessee Valley Authority grant and other funding, the KEDFA money will be used for site preparation and to build a road into what was American Legion and Logan County Fairgrounds property along U.S. 68-Ky. 80.

The 52 acres will boost the size of the West Industrial Park to 167 developable acres and, perhaps more importantly, will make it easier to access the acreage that is being marketed to industrial prospects.

“By adding this acreage, the industrial park will now have access from two four-lane highways: the Jefferson Davis Highway and the bypass,” Logan County Judge-Executive Logan Chick said. “It will make the park more attractive and allow us to do some good things.”

Logan Economic Alliance for Development Executive Director Jim DeCesare said work on the site will begin in the spring and should make the property attractive to industrial prospects.

“The West Industrial Park is phenomenal,” DeCesare said. “It is accessible by rail and a four-lane state highway and has all the utilities any industry needs. The PDI grant allows us to make additional site improvements needed to attract an advanced manufacturing facility to Logan County.”

Chick said interest in Logan County is high from potential employers.

“We’ve had more activity recently than we’ve ever had before,” he said. “But we’re competing with the world. I’m looking forward to improving that park.”

The expansion of the West Industrial Park is hardly the only economic development activity in Logan County, according to DeCesare.

He said the county’s 93-acre Shelton Lane Industrial Park should soon be home to a “speculative” building that can be used to attract industrial prospects.

“We have a request for proposals out now for a ‘spec’ building,” DeCesare said. “We’ll get proposals in December and go from there. Having that property presentable and ready for use is what the end game is.”

Logan County is also targeted as the site of a 1,600-acre solar farm to be developed by Nashville-based Silicon Ranch as part of TVA’s Green Invest program.

Silicon Ranch is investing more than $150 million to build the solar array that will provide power to two specific customers: Facebook’s data center in Gallatin, Tenn., and the General Motors Corvette Assembly Plant in Bowling Green.

The logancountykysolar.com website said the 173-megawatt solar farm will include 493,000 solar modules on what had been farmland.

Construction of the solar farm on property along Watermelon and Montgomery roads, to the southwest of Russellville, is expected to begin early next year and be completed in 12 to 18 months.

– Follow business reporter Don Sergent on Twitter @BGDNbusiness or visit bgdailynews.com.