The Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity is offering grants of hundreds of thousands of dollars to certain rural communities to help them with economic development projects.
At an interlocal meeting of government leaders from around Wasatch County last week, April 10, Heber Valley Chamber of Commerce executive director Dallin Koecher said he wants county leaders to apply for two kinds of grants.
One is the $200,000 Rural County Grant. The other is the Rural Communities Opportunity Grant, which tops out at $600,000, but also requires a 30% matching contribution from the government that applies. Koecher emphasized local municipalities can apply too.
“What’s different about this is that the county is eligible to apply, but also municipalities like Heber City, Midway, Charleston, Hideout, Daniel – all of these municipalities can apply for it as well,” he said.
The grant funding can be used for projects like business recruitment, infrastructure, workforce training and more.
Koecher said entities should be strategic to maximize the benefit from several different kinds of grants.
“If it’s a big project or regional project that we really need to get funded, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility to come up with a million and a half dollars in one year if we have that kind of collaboration,” he said.
He said the chamber could help with grant applications, and he encouraged local governments to work together to develop priorities.
“I think it will be really helpful for us to have a solid economic development plan for the whole county,” he said.
Grant applications open in the fall. In the meantime, Koecher said leaders should continue the conversation to figure out what projects they want to seek funding to support.