County set to receive $550K
By Victor Skinner, The Center Square
By Victor Skinner
Raleigh – North Carolina is distributing more than $19 million in federal relief to dozens of rural governments in a second round of funding from the Rural Transformation Grant Fund, Gov. Roy Cooper announced last week.
A total of 42 rural local governments on Dec. 21 were awarded $19.76 million from the fund, which utilizes federal American Rescue Plan dollars to support economic growth. Cherokee County is expected to receive $550,000.
“More support for North Carolina’s rural communities is on the way with these transformative grants, made possible by President Biden’s American Rescue Plan,” Cooper said. “These funds, backed up by the expertise of our rural development team at the Department of Commerce, will bring more economic opportunity to people across the state.”Not everyone agrees.
Brian Balfour, senior vice president of research at the John Locke Foundation, argues the federal spending behind the grants could ultimately harm Americans struggling the most.
“The federal government is more than $31 trillion in debt. The money for this grant program will need to be created out of thin air, which adds to the inflation that has been destroying the finances of low-income households,” he said. “Moreover, this inflationary spending will be directed by government bureaucrats, when we know that genuine economic growth is driven by entrepreneurs and not government programs.”
The Rural Transformation Grant Fund, part of the Department of Commerce’s Rural Engagement & Investment Program, awarded grants in four categories: Downtown Revitalization, Resilient Neighborhoods, Community Enhancements for Economic Growth and Rural Community Capacity Building.
The 21 grants for Downtown Revitalization ranged from $200,000 each for Marshville and Bertie County, to $850,000 for Maysville. All but five of the grants were for at least $500,000, while five were for at least $800,000.
Those grants will “help grow and leverage a community’s commercial core into an asset for economic growth and prosperity,” according to a Cooper release.
The fund awarded five Resilient Neighborhoods grants for community development, healthy living initiatives, and increasing access to affordable housing, among other initiatives. The grants include $580,000 for East Spencer, $450,000 for Rosman, $300,000 for Saratoga, $400,000 for Seven Springs and $650,000 for Vass.
Another eight grants for Community Enhancements for Economic Growth were targeted for land and building acquisitions, preparing business sites, and similar work. They included $550,000 for Cherokee County, $450,000 for Marion, $850,000 for Clay County, $450,000 for Franklin County, $725,000 for Hertford County, $325,000 for Bladenboro, $450,000 for Louisburg and $150,000 for St. Pauls.
Eleven grants were awarded in the Rural Community Capacity category, each for $49,999, to help train local government staffs on developing funding proposals for projects. The RC2 grants went to Archdale, Hertford County, Garysburg, Jonesville, Liberty, Mars Hill, Maysville, Pilot Mountain, Rosman, Spruce Pine and Wilson’s Mills.
North Carolina awarded $20.1 million to 30 local governments during the first round of the rural grant program in June. Details about the projects funded by the $48 million grant fund are on the department’s website.