STAR LAKE – A new supermarket is coming to Star Lake, thanks in part to a $350,000 in loans from local economic development agencies.

The North Country Economic Development Fund board has approved a $100,000 loan for a supermarket in an area of St. Lawrence County that was facing the prospect of long drives to buy groceries.

LKR Enterprises, which operates independent Great American grocery stores in Watertown and Boonville, is seeking to expand to Star Lake in a building previously occupied by IGA, which closed its doors in April.

Without the IGA, the nearest supermarket for local residents is 30-40 miles away.

LKR plans to use the funding to make initial minor cosmetic improvements prior to opening this summer. It will also add five jobs.

The loan fund is administered by the New York Power Authority and the Development Authority of the North Country. Empire State Development and North Country Alliance representatives also serve on the NCEDF board.

LKR will also receive an additional $250,000 in loans from the North Country Alliance, the Greater Massena Economic Development Fund and the St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency.

The $10 million NCEDF fund was established in 2014 to provide low-cost loans to businesses expanding and creating or retaining jobs in St. Lawrence, Clinton, Franklin, Essex, Jefferson, Lewis, Hamilton and Herkimer counties and enterprises within the New York boundaries of the Akwesasne Mohawk Reservation.