[10/10/02]As promised by its chief executive, the Vicksburg rubber-recycling business damaged by a May explosion and fire is taking steps to rebuild, and the City of Vicksburg will attempt to help the process.

The City Board on Monday approved Rouse Polymerics’ application for a low-interest government loan.

If approved as tentatively committed to by the Mississippi Development Authority, the loan could provide Rouse with up to $1 million in cash three to nine months sooner than it might otherwise be able to secure it, and with a potential interest-rate subsidy from federal taxpayers of at least $320,000 over the life of the loan.

“There can be a pretty long waiting period between when the insurance comes through and when these people need to be back in business,” said Jimmy Heidel, Warren County’s chief economic developer and the initiator of the deal.

The loan would come from federal Community Development Block Grant funds administered by the MDA and would put city taxpayers at no additional risk, said consultant Chris Gouras, who is handling the loan application for the city.

A main criterion for a private industry to receive a CDBG loan is the number of jobs it can create.

The largest part of Rouse’s production facility, off U.S. 61 South, has been idle since it exploded in flames May 16, leaving 12 men injured, five of whom died from burns or related complications within two weeks. The last victims to be released from The Burn Center at Greenville’s Delta Regional Medical Center went home more than two months after the fire.

Patrick Rader of Vicksburg said Wednesday he had continued to improve since his June 22 release, making four trips to the burn center for checkups in the meantime. He said he keeps in contact with the other five survivors who were hospitalized and that they were continuing to improve as well, though at least one had required further surgery, as recently as last week.

Employing about 100 workers when hit by fire, Rouse dropped to fewer than 10 employees, mainly management.

An investigation into the cause of the fire, led by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, kept much of the facility frozen until the past two months. That investigation continues, OSHA Jackson office deputy director Eugene Stewart said Wednesday.

Rouse’s product is powdered rubber made by grinding tires and other scraps, and used in the manufacture of tires and other products.

“Rouse has some extremely good contracts in the auto industry,” Heidel said. “They have some products no one else has.”

Company CEO Michael Rouse said the company is running “a small pilot plant” and some laboratory operations as he works to get the company re-certified as a supplier for its customers. The company’s employee count is back up to about 12, he said.

“I’ve had to take this to the highest level of making sure we do everything perfect,” Rouse said of the rebuilding process. “I have to make sure everything is totally reviewed and blessed by every agency,” to take every measure to prevent another disaster.

All rebuilding will be done on the company’s current site, Rouse said. Final cleanup of the burned site is expected to begin in the next two weeks, with limited-scale production set to resume in late November in a part of the plant that remained operable, he said. By January, removal of the burned building and construction of a new facility are expected to be complete, he said.

Rouse said he wanted to put as many former employees back to work as possible, but wasn’t sure how many would want to come back.

Rader said he isn’t currently employed but does not plan to rejoin the company. “It almost cost us our lives,” he said.

Rouse said Heidel and others in the county, including the Warren County Board of Supervisors, have given the company’s rebuilding efforts invaluable support.