The 231 Industrial Park on the highway between Murfreesboro and Shelbyville is filling up, or at least potentially so.  

 In 2014, the City of Shelbyville and Bedford County in a joint venture each put up $600,000 to purchase the 86 acres of the industrial park. The land had no water, sewer, gas, and only electricity connections down the road, so the park lay dormant though it was listed as a “state certified site.”  

 That is, until recently. Today, the new $43 million Tennessee College of Applied Technologies and the $95 million Duksan Electera America, Inc. plant take up all but 26 acres of the industrial park, according to lead economic director Shane Hooper. 

 Now the question is which industry will occupy those remaining 26 acres. According to Hooper, only about 20 of those acres are developable; the rest are wetlands.  

 But there are several viable “projects” looking at those acres that were once part of the Carlton Family property.  

 At Tuesday’s 231 Industrial Park Board meeting, Hooper listed several potential industries—all under project names due to regulations from the Securities and Exchange Commission.   

 Project Khaki is a $12 million capital investment project and has a potential of creating 60 jobs; Project Alabaster represents about 240,000 square feet of new build and would have the potential for 100 new jobs; Project Silver would be $20 million in capital investment and 40 new jobs; and Project Cobalt would be a $12 million investment that could bring anywhere from 60 to 100 jobs.  

 Captial investment is crucial to the economy, according to Hooper. Those millions of dollars in capital investment are what industries get taxed on, thus maximizing existing resources.   

 Of those projects, Hooper said Project Cobalt looks to be the one to “come through the quickest.” No details can be released about these projects, but Hooper said Project Cobalt is listed as “light manufacturing.” There will be a more detailed decision by the end of April.  

 Road access 

 Creating road access to this industrial park has been a challenge. For instance, anyone traveling the almost 90-degree turn of Frank Martin Road can speculate an increase in traffic flow on those roads would pose danger.  

 However, Hooper said those working with Project Cobalt would be willing to construct their own road. According to highway superintendent Mark Clanton, this would cost an estimated $600,000 plus an extra 30% due to rising costs (for a total of $780,000 or more).  

 Local contractors  

 With many aspects of these projects needing construction, Clanton and Hooper said there are initiatives to get local contractors to do the jobs. This would in turn support local Bedford businesses.  

 Hooper said, “We found out a lot of our local contractors weren’t registered with the State of Tennessee.” The Shelbyville-Bedford Partnership is hosting an event at the TCAT-S facility on Madison Street on Jan. 12 to get these companies registered.  

 “This is an attempt to get more of our local contractors involved,” said Hooper.  

 And with these accomplishments under belt, County Commissioner Greg Vick announced he is stepping down as chairman.  

 “I would challenge each of you on this board to take this to the next level because we’ve got it as far as we can go,” he said.