NMDC coordinating northern border grant program
By Barbara Scott
Staff Writer
The Northern Border Regional Commission will soon be providing $1.25 million in federal grant funding intended to alleviate economic distress and create jobs in 36 distressed counties in the four states that make up the Northern Border Region, including Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York.
Priority will be given to applications for projects in the distressed counties of Washington, Waldo, Somerset, Piscataquis, Penobscot, Oxford, Franklin, Androscoggin and Aroostook. In addition to the distressed counties in Maine, the Waterville LMA and five census tracts in the Waterville region will also be included.
In Maine the evaluation of grant requests will be coordinated by the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development with assistance from the Northern Border Regional Commission.
Once those applications coming from both Washington and Aroostook counties are received by the Aug. 29 deadline and are reviewed for completeness, NMDC will forward them for funding review. NMDC will work closely to provide assistance to applicants and ensure efficient application intake.
Eligible projects must address one or more of the following: transportation, water, sewer, energy, and telecommunications infrastructure of the region; assist the region’s workers in obtaining job skills and employment related education, as well as promote entrepreneurship, technology and business development; provide basic health care and other public services for those areas that are severely economically distressed and underdeveloped; promote resources conservation, tourism, recreation, and preservation of open space in a manner consistent with economic development goals; and promote the development of renewable and alternative energy sources. The maximum grant for any applicant will be $250,000.
Applications forms and supporting documentation for NBRC grants are available at NMDC by contacting Alain Ouellette at 543-1801 or by email at aouellette@nmdc.org. Applications must be received by NMDC by 4 p.m., Aug. 29.
NMDC Executive Director Robert Clark stated, “We are pleased to provide the assistance and guidance necessary for the Aroostook and Washington County region to compete effectively and to secure the funding necessary to expand and improve our regional economy.”
NBRC’s Director, Sandy Blitz added, “This is NMDC’s second year coordinating the program and we are confident that the region will once again be well served.”
The 2008 federal Farm Bill authorized the establishment of the NBRC to help address the community and economic development needs of the most severely distressed portions of the Northeastern United States. Similar in its makeup and mission to the Appalachian Regional Commission, the NRBC builds upon the Appalachian regional development model of focusing federal resources around grassroots community development strategies that meet regional needs. The strength of this regional development model is in its ability to respond to the specific needs of a region whose assets, opportunities and challenges differ greatly from other parts of the country.
Northern Maine Development Commission is a regional development organization providing planning, economic and community development assistance, business loans and loan packaging, GIS services and small business counseling services for Aroostook and Washington Counties.
