The Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity is accepting pre-applications for its Rural Communities Opportunity Grant to empower eligible entities to take responsibility for economic development planning, projects, and activities, and to manage their own unique opportunities.
Donor Name: Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity
State: Utah
County: Selected Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 10/01/2023
Size of the Grant: Up to $600,000
Grant Duration: 2 years
Details:
The grant is designed to address the economic development needs of rural communities, including:

Business recruitment, development, and expansion;
Workforce training and development; and
Infrastructure, industrial building development, and capital facilities improvements for business development.

Prioritization
The Advisory Committee may prioritize applications that demonstrate any combination of the following:

The community or AOG 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 jobs will be created; and
Evidence that there will be a positive return on investment.

Funding Information
Grant funding is competitive and requires matching funds from awardees. A municipality, city, town, metro township, county, or AOG may receive up to $600,000. Rural counties may receive grant funds from the RCOG exceeding the $200,000 distributed to counties under the Rural County Grant (RCG), but counties may not receive more than $800,000 of state funds per fiscal year.
Project Period
Contract periods are set for two years from the time of approval.
Eligibility Criteria

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 fulfill the same advisory requirements as a CEO Board. An AOG’s General Board must also fulfill the same advisory requirements as a CEO Board as it pertains to eligibility for this grant.
A formal application must be submitted by the community or AOG legislative body through GOEO’s designated application portal.
The application must include a description of anticipated economic development projects and activities approved by the legislative body and recommended by the CEO Board, or the commission or general board acting in the same advisory role. This description must include the following:

Scope of Work;
Project and Activities Budget;
Timeline; and
Deliverables and Outcomes.


The applying community or AOG must demonstrate a funding match, which may be provided by any of the following sources:

A community reinvestment agency
A redevelopment agency
A community development and renewal agency
A private-sector entity
A nonprofit entity
A federal matching grant
A county or municipality general fund match
For counties, a funding match must 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; or
40% match for a county of the third class.


For municipalities in any rural county classification including within the second class— a funding match must total:

10% match for a town;
20% match for a municipality of the fifth class;
30% match for a municipality of the fourth class; or
40% match for a municipality of the third class.




The applying community or AOG must provide verification of compliance with the reporting requirements of the Rural Opportunity Advisory Committee, and verification of reporting requirements for all previous years the community or AOG has received an RCOG or an RCG.
If a community or AOG has not entered into a previous Rural County Grant (RCG) or Rural Communities Opportunity Grant, it must agree to the Office’s annual reporting requirements if a grant is awarded.

Qualified Rural Counties, by classification (State Code 17-50-501), are:

Counties of the Third Class (Population of 40,000 or more, but less than 175,000)

Cache County, Tooele County, Box Elder County, Iron County, Summit County


Counties of the Fourth Class (Population of 11,000 or more, but less than 40,000)

Uintah County, Wasatch County, Sanpete County, Sevier County, Carbon County, Duchesne County, San Juan County, Millard County, Morgan County, Juab County


Counties of the Fifth Class (Population of 4,000 or more, but less than 11,000)

Emery County, Grand County, Kane County, Beaver County, Garfield County


Counties of the Sixth Class (Population less than 4,000)

Wayne County, Rich County, Piute County, Daggett County



For more information, visit GOEO.