Mayors say talks have resumed in effort to lure ‘Project Falcon’ to industrial park

After an unidentified Fortune 500 company put its search for a new manufacturing site on hold, county officials say talks have now resumed with Dickson County remaining one of two finalists. Dickson Mayor Don Weiss Jr. and county Mayor Bob Rial both said on recent Power Lunch programs on WDKN that discussions with various state agencies and representatives of the company identified only as Project Falcon have started again. On Tuesday’s program, Rial said he has been in meetings as recent as Friday and Monday discussing various components of the company’s search. Weiss and Rial said the company is still considering Dickson County and Jonesboro, Arkansas, for the location of a new plant that reportedly could eventually be a $250 million investment creating as many as 400 new jobs. “I feel very positive about it right now,” Rial said on Tuesday’s program. He said one recent meeting was with Tennessee Department of Transportation officials to discuss some transportation issues, but did not elaborate on their nature. “There are so many moving parts to this thing,” Rial said of the county’s effort to lure Project Falcon to the William D. Field-Dickson County Industrial Park. Rial said the county has made a “great offer” that includes a 15-year graduated tax abatement program and the donation of 146 acres in the industrial park. Rial said the city of Dickson, local utilities and the Dickson County Chamber of Commerce have all “stepped up” with major contributions to the recruitment effort and the county is getting great cooperation from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development and other departments. While officials said Project Falcon originally planned to make a decision on a new site last fall, those deliberations were temporarily put on hold due to corporate issues unrelated to the site search. Rial said there has not been any new timeline established for a decision but he is encouraged by the fact that the company continues to talk with local and state officials.