Economic Development
CEDS Committee
North Country Council (NCC) is a US Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA)-designated organization responsible for economic development strategic planning in the northern tier of New Hampshire. The CEDS Committee develops and maintains a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS).
A Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) is designed to bring together the public and private sectors in the creation of an economic roadmap to diversify and strengthen regional economies. The CEDS includes analysis of the regional economy and serves as a guide for establishing regional goals and objectives, developing and implementing a regional plan of action, and identifying investment priorities and funding sources. A CEDS must be the result of a continuing economic development planning process developed with broad-based and diverse private and public sector participation.
The Comprehensive Economic Development (CEDS) Committee is responsible for developing, revising, or replacing the CEDS document. The Committee identifies and prioritizes local and regional projects including them in the CEDS document, thereby making them eligible for EDA funding. The Committee includes representation from major economic interests in the region, including private sector, public officials, community leaders, local and regional development corporations, higher education, housing, the arts and more. The CEDS committee usually meets bi-monthly to learn about and coordinate economic initiatives in the region and update the CEDS document.
Development of EDA Projects
NCC provides project development assistance on CEDS-prioritized projects to communities and nonprofits for no cost. The following are some examples of EDA investment programs: Public Works, Economic Adjustment Assistance, Local Technical Assistance and Trade Adjustment Assistance.
Public Works Program
This program empowers distressed communities to revitalize, expand, and upgrade their physical infrastructure to attract new industry, encourage business expansion, diversify local economies, and generate or retain long-term private sector jobs and investments.
Economic Adjustment Assistance Program
This program assists state and local interests to design and implement strategies to adjust or bring about change to an economy. The program focuses on areas that have experienced or are under threat of serious structural damage to the underlying economic base.
Local Technical Assistance Program
This program helps fill the knowledge and information gaps that may exist to prevent leaders in the public and nonprofit sectors of distressed areas from making optimal decisions on local economic development issues.
Trade Adjustment Assistance
The EDA uses a national network of twelve Trade Adjustment Assistance Centers to help manufacturers and producers affected by increased imports prepare and implement strategies to guide their economic recovery.
EDA Grant Administration Services
Providing grant administration services to proponents of projects ranked in the CEDS is one of the ways North Country Council (NCC) implements our regional economic development strategy. The costs for these programs are on a case by case basis depending on project complexity.
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Application Writing Services
North Country Council (NCC) staff works with the municipality (the applicant) to prepare planning, housing/public facility, economic development and emergency grants for submission to the NH Community Development Finance Authority (CDFA). Application criteria and submission details can be found on CDFA’s website, www.nhcdfa.org. All CDBG applications are competitive and follow a scoring procedure for eligibility and ranking.
Planning Applications (formerly feasibility)
Applications have a grant limit of $12,000. Matching funds are not required, but significantly improve the competitive scoring. Planning studies are intended to determine whether or not a proposed CDBG project is feasible. Examples include income surveys, preliminary architectural and engineering design, cost estimates, and market analysis. Deadline is the last business day of April and October of each year.
Housing and Public Facility Applications
Applications have a grant limit of $500,000. Matching funds are encouraged, with no minimum requirement. Examples include affordable housing and housing rehabilitation, municipal water and sewer projects, and public facilities such as child care and senior centers. All projects must provide a minimum of 51% benefit to low and moderate income persons. Deadline is the last Monday of January and July of each year.
Economic Development Applications
Applications have a grant limit of $500,000. Projects must have a minimum of 1:1 matching funds, and 60% of the jobs to be created or retained must be available to low and moderate income persons. Projects can be for municipal infrastructure (water, sewer, roads), a loan to a business, development of real estate by a nonprofit economic development entity, or a grant to a nonprofit creating/retaining jobs. A minimum scoring threshold is required for consideration. Open application period beginning January 1st.
Emergency Applications
Must fit one of the categories above, and must respond to an emergency occurring no more than 18 months prior to the application. Open application period beginning January 1st.
Fees
Fees for writing CDBG applications can be reimbursed with CDBG funds if the application is successful. If an application is not successful, NCC will expect the municipality to cover half of the cost. Application writing fees for feasibility studies are $500. Application writing fees for housing/public facility, economic development or emergency applications are $4000. These fees do not include the cost for the required municipal public hearing. Please contact North Country Council at least three months prior to application deadlines.
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Administration Services
North Country Council (NCC) may be designated as the CDBG project administrator on behalf of the municipal applicant in any CDBG application. The cost for CDBG administration is included in the grant application. Administration costs are determined on a project-by-project basis, and are paid out of the grant.
Brownfields
The purpose of North County Council’s (NCC) Brownfield Assessment Program is to assist communities and private land owners in redeveloping properties which have been foreclosed on, taken by tax deed, or generally underutilized because of real or perceived site contamination. In particular, the assessment program can be used to confirm site contamination or a lack of contamination in order to remove redevelopment hurdles; remove liability from a contaminated site for those not responsible; receive liability protection that runs with the land; assist with state and federal legal issues to redevelopment in a coordinated, supportive way; and access significant financial resources designed to assist with site redevelopment.
NCC received an EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant. Grant funds are used to identify and characterize known or potential contaminated Brownfields and to conduct Phase I and II environmental assessments.
Phase I Assessment (Screening Assessment)
Preliminary work on a proposed site includes background and historical investigation and the site inspection.
Phase II Assessment (Full Site Assessment)
After a Phase I Assessment finds a site appropriate, Phase II begins and consists of identifying the areas within the site that are contaminated and need remediation. Sampling occurs to identify the types and levels of contaminants.
There is no fee for this service but eligibility requirements do apply. Completion of assessments depends on multiple factors including eligibility determinations, weather limitations, and engineer contractor response time. Usually Phase I requires one to three months to complete and Phase II varies according to the individual site needs and degree of
contamination.
Capital Improvement Programs (CIP)
North Country Council’s (NCC) professional planning staff is experienced in the development of capital improvement programs (CIP) for rural communities, and is available to provide assistance to communities to develop or update theirs.
A capital improvement program is a document authorized in the NH RSA’s that identifies and plans for anticipated capital expenses over a six year period. A CIP improves communication between municipal departments, citizens, planning board members and the selectboard. A CIP allows for appropriate long-term financial planning for communities and helps avoid tax rate “surprises” to cover capital expenses. A CIP also enables a community to plan ahead for the needs of future development.
The process used by the professional planning staff at NCC involves review of financial history, including analysis of past capital expenditures and tax rate impacts; and consultation with municipal department heads regarding future needs, and anticipated replacement dates and costs for existing equipment.