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Office of Rural Development offers first grants

Michigan’s Office of Rural Development has announced its first grant program to help communities better prepare for investment opportunities.

Director Sarah Lucas tells Brownfield the Rural Readiness Grant Program will provide up to $50,000 per project to support collaborative planning and capacity initiatives.

“When grant opportunities become available, there aren’t a lot of what you might consider shovel-ready projects in the pipeline that could be eligible for those grant dollars and that’s because rural communities, by and large, don’t have the budgets or the staff,” she explains.

Lucas says 70 counties across the state are eligible for the reimbursement grants which she expects will help address housing, broadband, childcare, and other needs.

“We’re really focused on how do we build that readiness of rural communities for future investment and solutions to some of their bigger challenges,” she says.

Lucas says the program will also prepare Michigan to access federal grants and builds upon the USDA’s Rural Partners Network which connects communities to federal programs.

A second round of funding is expected later this year.  The office is housed in the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

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