Bryan County was awarded a $37.1 million Georgia Fund Lund to help pay for water and sewer infrastructure for the Mega-Site in Black Creek, the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority announced Tuesday. The county won’t have to pay interest on the loan, which will go toward Bryan County’s share of providing more than an estimated $150 million in water and sewer upgrades to the Mega-Site, as well as surrounding industrial, commercial and residential development.

Several large industrial manufacturing companies have shown interest in locating at the Interstate 16 Mega-Site, the state said (see related story, top of page). The Mega-Site, which sits near the I-16 and Highway 280 interchange in Black Creek, was purchased in 2021 by the state, is being managed by the I-16 Savannah Harbor Joint Development Authority and includes officials from Bryan, Bulloch, Chatham and Effingham counties.

The water sewer project will serve anticipated industrial, commercial, and residential developments in Chatham, Effingham and Bulloch County, according to GEFA. It is among a number of infrastructure upgrades state and local officials are looking to make at the interchange.