Steel-making plant officially opens in Tenn-Tom port

IUKA — Dennen Steel Corp. has opened its new manufacturing facility in the northeastern corner of Mississippi.

Gov. Phil Bryant was among those attending a ceremony yesterday at the 50,000-square-foot plant at Yellow Creek Port in Iuka. Workers will turn slit steel coils into precision stampings, fabricated metal parts and assemblies.

The Grand Rapids, Mich.-based company is investing about $7.4 million in the Mississippi plant, creating 50 jobs. The project was announced in 2010, and construction started in July 2011.

Mississippi Development Authority, the state’s economic agency, provided a $20 million loan to Tishomingo County to construct the building. MDA also gave the county a $781,424 grant for infrastructure at the plant site.

MDA says the Appalachian Regional Commission and Tennessee Valley Authority also provided assistance for the project, but details about the assistance were not immediately available Tuesday.