Economic Development Grant

Economic Development Grant

Description:

Alachua County will accept applications from the non-profit sector for grants that promote community redevelopment via economic development services in the Gainesville Metropolitan Area. This framework complements the County's COVID-19 response as well as a commitment to the Gainesville Community Revitalization Area agreement (GCRA). All applications will need to focus on serving low income to moderate-income citizens through the terms and objectives of the County’s April 2019 community redevelopment agreement with the City of Gainesville. ​​​

Application Period:

Applications will be accepted from May 13, through 5 PM May 27, 2020.

Ranked applications will be brought back to the Board of County Commissioner’s 11:30 AM June 9, 2020, regular meeting for approval.

If the full funding allocation is not awarded by June 9, 2020, the second round of applications and ranking will be solicited from non-profits.

Non-profits may submit one application per Fiscal Year.

Incomplete applications will not be ranked nor submitted for Board approval and award.

Submit the application before 5 PM May 27, 2020 in pdf format via email to: econdev@alachuacounty.us.

The final award and amount are at the discretion of the Board of County Commissioners. ​

Funds Available:

• The total amount available for funding requests in Fiscal Year 20 is $100,000.
• Maximum award per application is $50,000.
• Matching funds strongly encouraged.

Background

For FY20, a special category has been included on the application requesting a response from applicants on how their proposal will address COVID-19 impacts in the community.

Also, as part of this funding cycle, applications will be ranked by staff rather than the Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC). All subsequent funding years will go through EDAC.

Qualified Applicants: Government and non-profit organizations with 501c3 status may apply.
Total Funding Available for Award: $100,000 per funding cycle. Of this total, up to $50,000 may be awarded to a qualified grantee in any funding cycle. If successful, a grantee may only receive one grant per funding cycle. In the case of multiple qualifying applications, the Board may elect to partially fund grant requests.  All dates for review and award are subject to change due to the ongoing crisis with Covid-19.
Process: Points shall be awarded based on the applicant’s responses to the key performance indicators referenced below. High scoring applications may be fully funded depending upon the number of successful applications. Poorly scoring or applications that fail to meet key performance indicators or grant criteria will not be awarded. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

History

As part of the Board’s Special Budget Meeting on June 4, 2019, Manager Lieberman proposed the creation of an Economic Development Grant Fund. The purpose of the fund would be to capture those programs that do not fall within the traditional Community Agency Partnership Program (CAPP) services and spur economic development in areas of need.
This effort aligns with the County Commission’s desire to “promote the economic prosperity of all citizens, address economic equity, and diversify the tax base”, per Goal 1 of the Economic Element in the Comprehensive Plan. The Economic Element further elaborates on the Board’s policies relating to achieving greater prosperity for all including but not limited to the promotion of job training, local food, business incubation, nature-based tourism, and recycling businesses while addressing historic equity issues. Concurrent with this goal, the City of Gainesville and Alachua County in 2019 ratified the Gainesville Community Revitalization Area agreement (GCRA) which seeks to catalyze redevelopment and remove the effects of slum and blight for low and moderate-income residents including the elderly.

This grant meets both commitments by promoting community redevelopment via economic development service projects in the Gainesville Metropolitan Area.
The resources for these efforts would be funded from a portion of the funds committed by the County to the GCRA agreement.

Criteria

Goal: Promote community redevelopment via grants for economic redevelopment that:

1. Reduces the effects of slum and blight in the Gainesville Metropolitan Area
2. Targets residents of low to moderate-income including the elderly
3. Impacts the surrounding urban infrastructure rehabilitation, revitalization or conservation or any combination of benefits
4. Impacts Gainesville Metropolitan areas with low-income residents.
5. Addresses negative physical and economic conditions of slums related to disease, poverty, and crime.
6. Improve the surrounding infrastructure in support of economic development goals for the reduction of slum and blight
7. Achieves Board policies related to economic development: increases economic prosperity, economic equity and diverse tax base in these areas needing redevelopment
8. Special criteria for 2020: How the grant funds address Covid-19 impacts in the community.

   Uses: Funds will be used for grants for Professional Services Grants that promote community redevelopment through economic services, benefitting the low-income to moderate-income residents and the elderly in the City of Gainesville Metropolitan Area.