The Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity is seeking applications for its Rural Communities Opportunity Grant.
Donor Name: Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity
State: Utah
County: Selected Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 11/18/2022
Size of the Grant: $200,000
Grant Duration: 2 years
Details:
Grant Purpose
The RCOG empowers rural communities to take responsibility for economic development planning, projects, and activities, and to manage their unique opportunities. The grant addresses the economic development needs of rural communities, which needs may include:
- Business recruitment, development, and expansion
- Workforce training and development
- Infrastructure and capital facilities improvements for business development
Prioritization
The Advisory Committee may prioritize applications that demonstrate any combination of the following:
- The community has or is actively pursuing the creation of an effective strategic economic development plan
- Consistency with local economic development priorities
- Economic need
- Utilization of local financial resources in combination with a grant
- Evidence that the grant will help create jobs
- Evidence that there will be a positive return on investment
Funding Information
Grant funding is competitive and requires matching funds from the rural community. Grant funds from the RCOG may exceed the $200,000 distributed to counties under the Rural County Grant (RCG), up to an overall amount not to exceed $800,000 per state fiscal year. A municipality, city, town, or metro township may receive up to $600,000.
Project Period
All projects and activities under the grant must be completed within the 24-month period of the contract.
Requirements
A rural county must form and have a functioning County Economic Opportunity Advisory Board (CEO Board). A rural municipality must have a functioning planning and zoning commission or a duly organized municipal economic opportunity advisory board or commission that will act under the same advisory requirements as a CEO Board.
A formal application must be submitted by the community legislative body through the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity (GO Utah).
The application must include a description of anticipated economic development projects and activities approved by the legislative body, based upon recommendations of the CEO Board, or for a municipality, the planning and zoning commission or a duly organized municipal economic opportunity advisory board or commission to include:
- Scope of work
- Project and activities budget
- Timeline
- Deliverables and outcome
The applying community must demonstrate a funding match, which may be provided by any combination of:
- A community reinvestment agency
- Redevelopment agency
- Community development and renewal agency
- Private-sector entity
- Nonprofit entity
- Federal matching grant
- County or municipality general fund match
- And that total:
- 10% match for a county of the sixth class
- 20% match for a county of the fifth class
- 30% match for a county of the fourth class
- 40% match for a county of the third class
- Or, for a municipality in any rural county classification — including within the second class —
that total:- 10% match for a town
- 20% match for a municipality of the fifth class
- 30% match for a municipality of the fourth class
- 40% match for a municipality of the third class
The applying community must verify compliance with the reporting requirements of the Rural Opportunity Advisory Committee and verification of reporting requirements for all previous years the community has received a grant
- Rural Counties in the State of Utah of the third, fourth, fifth, or sixth class that have created and have an active County Economic Opportunity Advisory Board (CEO Board); or, a city, town, or metro township located within the boundaries of a rural county; or, a municipality with a population of 10,000 or less in a county of the second class with an active planning and zoning commission or a duly organized municipal economic opportunity advisory board or commission are eligible to apply for the Rural Communities Opportunity Grant (RCOG). Rural Counties, by classification are:
- Counties of the Third Class (Population of 40,000 or more, but less than 175,000):
- Box Elder County
- Cache County
- Iron County
- Summit County
- Tooele County
- Counties of the Fourth Class (Population of 11,000 or more, but less than 40,000):
- Carbon County
- Duchesne County
- Juab County
- Millard County
- Morgan County
- San Juan County
- Sanpete County
- Sevier County
- Uintah County
- Wasatch County
- Counties of the Fifth Class (Population of 4,000 or more, but less than 11,000):
- Beaver County
- Emery County
- Garfield County
- Grand County
- Kane County
- Counties of the Sixth Class (Population less than 4,000):
- Daggett County
- Piute County
- Rich County
- Wayne County
- Qualified rural municipalities (incorporated municipalities within a county of the third, fourth, fifth, or
sixth class) by classification (State code 10-2-301), are:- A municipality with a population of 30,000 or more but less than 65,000 is a city of the third class
A municipality with a population of 10,000 or more but less than 30,000 is a city of the fourth class - A municipality with a population of 1,000 or more but less than 10,000 is a city of the fifth class
- A municipality with a population under 1,000 is a town
- A municipality with a population of 30,000 or more but less than 65,000 is a city of the third class
- Qualified incorporated municipalities in a county of the second class with populations of less than 10,000 are:
- A municipality with a population of 1,000 or more but less than 10,000 is a city of the fifth class
- A municipality with a population under 1,000 is a town
For more information, visit Rural Communities Opportunity Grant.
