Over a million dollars is coming to Luce County.

PENTLAND TOWNSHIP -- Some big money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is coming to help the Luce County Industrial Park.

For a region that relies so heavily on the forest product industry, the economic downturn has hit the Newberry area hard.  Just ask the owners of Fritz Forest Products, the wood chipping producer in the Luce County Industrial Park.

"Well right now, times are tough,” said Don Fritz, part owner.  “Very small use of wood chips, and not many loggers are bringing wood in."

But help is on the way for the area.  The Luce County Industrial Park just received 1.6 million dollars in federal stimulus money to expand the park.  That expansion, officials hope, will help Luce County be at the front of the growing biomass fuel industry.

Tom Buckingham, chair of the Luce County Economic Development Corporation, hopes the expansion will attract new businesses focusing on wood-based alternative fuels.

"We're positioning ourselves for long-term job gain and stability within the forest products market," said Buckingham.

Buckingham believes the new expansion, which will be located in a 143 acre field across the road from the existing park, will create 100 new jobs in the next 20 years.  And a new business would also likely help other forestry businesses at the industrial park, relying on their goods and services.

"If it's any facility to utilize wood products,” said Tuffy Burton, who owns a truck logging business, “it would benefit greatly to my business."

Construction on the project will most likely begin next spring or summer.