GREENE COUNTY — The Greene County Community Improvement Corporation (CIC) has partnered with the Greene County Port Authority, and the Greene County Department of Development, to offer a new grant program to local non-profits.
The Greene County Non-profit Grant Program (formerly known as the CAP grant) was created to aid non-profits with urgent, or critical funding requests. This grant program was designed to supplement existing programs at both state and federal levels.
Greene County Commissioners challenged the Department of Development with drafting a program to help non-profit organizations after receiving feedback from Greene County citizens.
This grant program builds on the success of a recently announced collaboration with the Russ Research Center in creating a new workforce development program. Russ was given a grant of $75,000 from the CIC. Prior to this grant, the CIC had never given donated funds to a non-profit.
“We have a lot of non-profit organizations in Greene County that are doing great work for the community. The non-profit grant program is an avenue by which the County can provide some much needed assistance to support their important work,” said Commissioner Tom Koogler.
“The non-profit program is a great opportunity for both boards to do some good for our community. The non-profit world is competitive, and there are a lot of projects that need just a little push to make it to the finish line. We hope that this program provides some much needed assistance to these amazing organizations,” said John Finlay, President of the CIC.
Funding for this grant originates with the Greene County Port Authority, which collects revenue from user fees associated with conduit financing for projects such as the REACH center, the Greene County Combined Health District, and PACE financing for the Mall at Fairfield Commons.
For the grant program’s inaugural year, the Port Authority voted to grant $25,000 to the Community Improvement Corporation who will then be responsible for approving projects. Funding for subsequent years will be dependent upon revenue collected from port projects.
“Over the past five years, Greene County has been fortunate to experience historic economic growth,” said Paul Newman Jr., Executive Director of the Port Authority and Director of Development. “Whereas we have our CIC Economic Development Incentive Program (EDIP) for the attraction and expansion of local business, we now have the ability to assist our county non-profits with funding for their most important projects.”
Grants will be awarded once per year in the late summer. The cap for this year’s grants has been set at $7,000 per grant. Grants will be considered based on the following three criteria:
1. The number of people served by the non-profit.
2. Will the project resolve a slowdown of daily operations?
3. Will the project resolve safety issues?
4. Will the project include matching funds from other sources?
Additionally, disqualifiers include: operational expenses, research, fundraising, political causes, scholarships and faith-based causes benefitting only members of a certain faith.
The deadline to submit an application to receive a grant is August 23rd at 4pm. The CIC board will then meet to review projects on September 12th.
Applications can be found on the Greene County Department of Development’s website, under the Community Development tab. https://greenecountydod.org/community-development/grant-opportunities/
For any questions regarding the Greene County CAP Program, please contact: Economic Development Coordinator Eric Henry at: [email protected] (937) 562-5351 or Manager Kristie Tidd at: [email protected] (937) 562-5644.
