Its grants in hand for needed improvements, the Effingham Industrial Development Authority is amazed at how quickly the EFACEC plant is coming together.

“You can see the progress,” IDA CEO John Henry said. “The office and headquarters out front are coming along.”

Once completed, the office building is supposed to look like a transformer, Henry added.

“The project is going well,” he said, adding the construction firm, BE&K, anticipated having the topping out ceremony soon. The topping out signals the completion of the roof of the facility.

The IDA has received the $500,000 federal EIP grant to upgrade the railroad into the Portuguese transformer maker’s Rincon plant under construction.

“We’re awaiting the signature,” Henry said. “We can breathe easy again.”

The Employment Incentive Program grant, which comes from the U.S. Department of Commerce, is designed to help disadvantaged communities.

Technically, the grant is awarded to the county, which has had to produce the documents necessary for the grant, Henry said.

The state also has an obligation of a $2.75 million grant for the EFACEC project. That grant, according to the memorandum of understanding signed by state, local and EFACEC officials in 2007, can be disbursed in multiple grants.

The plant’s first phase is expected to be completed by the end of July.