Community Investment Grant Program
Purpose
The purpose of this program is to provide financial assistance to jurisdictions for the development of sites and infrastructure designed to attract and sustain businesses. Ideal grant requests will better position jurisdictions to compete for development projects at both state and local levels.
This program is a replacement to the Municipal Grant program and will act as a supplement to the Economic Development Incentive Program (EDIP) program.
The Greene County Commissioners' Grant program reallocates approximately $500,000 allotted for the Municipal Grant program, and up to 50% of the annual $500,000 allotted for the EDIP Grant program (for a total of $750,000 annually), to assist jurisdictions in the form of grants for strategic economic development projects to include: road extensions, due-diligence studies, utility extensions, speculative construction and municipal fiber.
Grants may also be awarded for community-based projects which improve the quality of life for residents such as parks, shared spaces and “main-street”/down-town improvements.
About this Program
- Open-enrollment throughout the year. No restrictions on amounts awarded.
- Projects will be graded by the Department of Development staff (ROI metrics, grading rubric). TheCommunity Improvement Corporation (CIC) will then recommend projects to the Board of CountyCommissioners (BOCC) for approval.
- Grants will be given upfront, in a single disbursement.
- A jurisdiction may only apply for one grant application at a time.
- Once an award has been issued, jurisdictions have 12 months to verify that the money has beenencumbered for the intended purpose and 24 months to spend it. Clawbacks may be initiated for non-performance.
- Jurisdictions may apply for grants from this program on an annual basis.
- Funds left over at the end of the calendar year may be divided amongst the remaining municipalitieswho did not receive grant funds. The distribution formula will be determined based on the dollarsavailable and will be at the discretion of the BOCC.
Eligible Projects
- Utility improvements/extensions
- Municipal fiber
- Due-diligence studies
- Speculative construction
- Main street/down-town improvements
- Public-space improvements
- Demolition/site development
Project Tiers
- While not all-encompassing, the below tiers indicate maximum spending amounts for various types of projects.
- Up to $20,000 for due-diligence and development studies/plans
- Up to $100,000 for main-street projects
- Up to $200,000 for demolition/site development
- $200,000 and up for infrastructure/utility improvement
Project Ranking
Projects will be scored by Department of Development staff based on the following criteria:
- Would this project improve the quality of life (jobs, recreation and sense of community) for residents?
- Does this project have letters of support from community and/or business leaders?
- Does this project have the potential to spin-off future economic development projects?
- Would this project diversify the economic base of the jurisdiction (provide new types of jobs and/orbusinesses)?
- How long would this project benefit the jurisdiction and the county?
- Is the application complete?
- Does the project have matching funds?
Other factors such as the expected impact that the project will have on the jurisdiction and the project narrative will also be taken into consideration.
Application Process
Applications will be accepted throughout the year until funds are depleted. Projects will be reviewed by Department of Development staff and the Community Improvement Corporation (CIC) before final approval by the BOCC.
