The Golden Leaf Foundation has awarded Halifax County a $400,000 grant, Economic Development Director Cathy Scott told commissioners today.

The grant will be used for improvements to the corporate park and was one of the top rated applications the foundation received.

Details of the improvements were not immediately available.

In other economic development news, commissioners approved a $31,760 change order for the Alliance Drive project, which is part of the expansion project at Reser’s Fine Foods.

A portion of the improvement was not included in the plans, Scott told the board.

The Reser’s project is moving along, Scott said, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is ready to issue a wetlands permit, which must first be approved by the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources. That permit is expected within the next 10 days.

Reser’s Fine Foods will invest an estimated $60 million in its Halifax plant over the next five years, creating 500 jobs and making the location on Highway 903 its Eastern headquarters.

The company’s plans also call for a three-part expansion of the plant of 925,000 square feet over the next five years.

The company has been growing since opening the Halifax plant in 2001, going from 40 million pounds of food to more than 100 million pounds this year.

The company is the largest salad company in the United States.

In other matters today the board:

• Recognized the award of certificates for the state approval of Halifax County EMS for another six years and for Central Communications being recognized as an emergency medical dispatch center.

• Approved the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council’s plan to use $207,002 in state funds for the upcoming fiscal year.