The Maine Department of Economic and Community Development is accepting applications for the Economic Development Program to assist identified businesses in the creation/retention of jobs for low-and moderate income persons.
Donor Name: Maine Department of Economic and Community Development
State: Maine
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): 03/29/2022
Grant Size: $30,000
Details:
Eligible Activities
Grants to Municipalities for Direct Business Support: working capital and capital equipment purchase Acquisition and any type of construction is not an allowable activity.
Exclusions
- Applicants may apply on behalf of only one business.
- EDP funds cannot be used to refinance existing debt.
- All EDP activities must be in support of an identified business; speculative activities are excluded.
- Communities that received an EDP award, for the same business in a prior year, must document, at submission of Letter of Intent, employment baseline information to show the company is at or above the employment number achieved as a result of previous CDBG assistance and that the CDBG assistance is vital to the project and cannot be obtained elsewhere. Prior to submitting a Letter of Intent, communities applying on behalf of a business that received funding in the previous year must first receive approval from the Director of the Office of Community Development.
- Start-up businesses are limited to a maximum grant award of $100,000.
- Waivers to increase the maximum grant award amount, in instances where the impact of the project is substantial and can be documented, both through project investment and job creation, must be approved by the Director of the Office of Community Development.
Project Benefit
All projects must document that at a minimum, 51% of all jobs created or retained as a result of the funded activity must be taken/held by persons of low and moderate income as defined by HUD. Jobs created/retained must be in the community applying for the EDP award, new jobs to that community and not associated with any other branches of the assisted business located in another community. Transfer positions cannot be counted toward the job creation/retention requirements. In the event that job creation requirements are not met, the applicant community will be responsible for immediate repayment to DECD of all CDBG funds expended on the project.
Funding Information
- The maximum CDBG participation per job created or retained with EDP funds is $30,000.
Eligibility Criteria
All units of general local government in Maine, including plantations, except for the entitlement communities of Auburn, Bangor, Biddeford, Lewiston, Portland and all of Cumberland County with the exception of Brunswick, Casco and Frye Island are eligible to apply for and receive State CDBG program funds. County governments may apply on behalf of the Unorganized Territory. Groups of local governments may apply for multi-jurisdictional or joint projects. Multi-jurisdictional applications require designation of one local government as the lead applicant and consent for that designation by each participating local government. Counties may apply for the Economic Development or Public Service programs on behalf of a collaboration of communities. Eligible applicants, including counties as defined above may apply for CDBG assistance on behalf of the five Maine Indian Tribes. Maine Indian Tribes are not themselves eligible applicants.
For more information, visit State of Maine.
