Steel makers invest in Mississippi County housing program

Two steel producers, Big River Steel and Atlas Tube, have invested more than $800,000 into Mississippi County’s housing incentive program, bringing total investment in the program to over $6 million, a spokesperson for the program said Thursday.

Big River, a subsidiary of American metal giant U.S. Steel, invested $500,000. It previously invested $3 million when the program started in 2023. Atlas Tube, owned by Canadian steel pipe manufacturer Zekelman Industries, invested $300,000, which follows a 2023 investment of $367,000.

The two companies combined employ about 780 people, according to a county growth report.

The incentive program, called “Work Here. Live Here.,” provides down payment assistance to employees of 15 companies in the county. It’s meant to draw industrial workers to the county and is overseen by the Grow Mississippi County Foundation. The county’s manufacturing workers have a median income of $99,000, more than double the county’s median household income.

Applicants are eligible to receive up to $50,000 toward the cost of a new home or up to $25,000 for a previously owned home. Participants must reside in the house and stay on the job for at least four years. Program participants pay $267,000 for a house on average, according to Randy Scott, a local banker who is also on the program’s board.

“Work Here. Live Here.” has generated $37.4 million in new home construction in two years with 150 homes sold, 60% of whose occupants are first-time homebuyers.