Shanny Wilson, Economic Development and Tourism Director for Carbon County, made a recent announcement regarding a grant program that the county received. This is called the Rural County Grant.
For the past couple of years, the county has had the opportunity to apply for and receive grant funding from the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity. Carbon County received funding for another year, and Wilson said they are excited to announce that they have this opportunity for local businesses to apply for funding.
Wilson explained that the Rural County Grant is a program that is designed to address the economic needs of the county and may include business recruitment, development and expansion, workforce training and development, infrastructure and much more. If a business has a potential project and is seeking funding opportunities, Wilson highly recommended that they apply.
Wilson reviewed noteworthy items on the grant, including the fact that it is a dollar-for-dollar match. This means that there is a 50/50 match required. The average requested awards can range from $1,000 up to $10,000. Wilson did state that larger grant requests can be considered and have been awarded in the past.
A few examples of projects are affordable housing development, infrastructure development, existing building expansion, upgrading equipment or machinery, uncommon industry investments, etc. The project must be presented to the Carbon County Economic Development Board for approval.
“Consideration for funding will rotate on three cycles, which is different from years past,” Wilson stated.
Cycle one applicants that will be considered are those that apply between Oct. 1 and Nov. 30. Their applications will be reviewed in December. Those that apply between Dec. 1 and Jan. 31 during cycle two will be considered in February of 2023. Those that apply between Feb. 1 and March 31 will be considered during cycle three in April.
Wilson stated that applicants should note that those that apply early have a much better opportunity of receiving funding. They wished to do three cycles to let applicants know sooner.
Information on the Rural County Grant, such as eligibility requirements, documents needed and the application itself, can be found on the county’s website under the “learn more” tab. For questions, contact Wilson at shanny.wilson@carbon.utah.gov or (435) 636-3295.