CCEDC Reports Over $828,000 in Grant Awards in 2023
CCEDC Reports Over $828,000 in Grant Awards in 2023
Funding to CCEDC continues to fuel Clarion County 2030 projects.
The CCEDC is pleased to report receiving over $828,000 in several federal, state, and local grants this year! These grants fuel projects that work toward the implementation of several goals within the Clarion County 2030 Economic Development Strategy.
“We are pleased to see the implementation of our strategic plan is underway and moving,” said Jarred Heuer, Executive Director of the CCEDC. “The variety of grants awarded, including amounts, project-types, and funding sources, really illustrates how economic development has multiple fronts.”
The CCEDC reported receiving grants toward projects involving environmental assessments, tourism development, rural healthcare support, and EMS upgrades.
In addition to new funding, the CCEDC has also completed the Clarion County Broadband Engineering Plan, which will work toward leveraging future federal/state broadband grants.
Completion of Broadband Engineering Plan
The Clarion County Connected Broadband Engineering Plan is now complete! The plan outlines fiber and fixed wireless strategies to develop middle mile and last mile connections countywide.
Pennsylvania recently announced the future availability of $1.16B for broadband connectivity projects. This is on top of the $200M available right now through the COVID-19 ARPA PA Broadband Infrastructure Program (BIP). The Broadband Engineering Plan has been invaluable in solidifying the local understand of our county’s served, unserved, and underserved areas. Given the high complexity of broadband infrastructure, the development of the plan provides local leaders with precise insight into areas with the greatest needs, which allows for better advocacy and application of resources.
The completed plan can be found on the CCEDC’s home page at www.clarioncountyedc.com.
Background on Broadband
In 2021, the CCEDC was awarded a $50,000 Area Development grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission to develop the Clarion County Connected Broadband Engineering Plan. Matched by the Clarion County Commissioners, the grant and matching dollars funded the hiring of Design Nine Inc. in June 2022. Since that time, Design Nine worked in close collaboration with the CCEDC and the Clarion County Broadband Committee to develop the plan.
CCEDC Receives $500,000 from US EPA for Brownfield Community-Wide Assessments
The CCEDC is happy to share that it has received a maximum grant of $500,000 from the US Environmental Protection Agency to conduct Brownfield Assessments in Clarion County!
WHAT IS A BROWNFIELD?
A brownfield is a property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. It is estimated that there are more than 450,000 brownfields in the U.S. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties increases local tax bases, facilitates job growth, utilizes existing infrastructure, takes development pressures off of undeveloped, open land, and both improves and protects the environment.
WHAT DOES THE ASSESSMENT GRANT DO?
Assessment Grants provide funding to inventory, characterize, assess, conduct a range of planning activities, develop site-specific cleanup plans, and conduct community engagement related to brownfield sites.
Before any brownfield clean-up or remediation can be completed, assessment work must take place to determine if a site is contaminated and the extent of that contamination. Given Clarion County’s robust industrial history, the existence of brownfields is a certainty. If these contaminated sites are to serve any purpose once again, they must be cleaned and remediated according to state/federal regulations. Conducting assessment work is the first step.
Additional Updates
Destination Improvement Initiative
As part of the 2030 Strategy, the CCEDC has been working with tourism stakeholders to enhance Clarion County as a tourist destination. In March 2023, the CCEDC completed a Tourism Industry Analysis to better understand our local/regional tourism industry and how Clarion County compares to regional markets and competitors. Following the Tourism Industry Analysis, the CCEDC has released a Request for Proposals (RFP) to regional and national destination marketing firms to develop a new Destination Marketing Plan. In collaboration with our tourism partners, we are seeking to enhance Clarion County’s tourism marketing strategy, which would work to modernize our marketing outreach, identify asset deficiencies, update our branding, and ultimately attract new tourist demographics to our county. This project is being funded through a grant received from the Appalachian Regional Commission.
Clarion County Regional Main Street Initiative
As part of the Destination Improvement Initiative, the CCEDC’s Main Street Initiative is seeking to conduct community revitalization work in our county’s downtowns. As a rural PA county, our downtowns are our core communities. Through the decades, rural downtowns have experienced dramatic highs and lows. The Main Street Initiative will bring forth an intentional, bottom-up effort to usher a renewed vision for our downtowns, develop a revitalization plan, and leverage public funding for implementation. The CCEDC is currently seeking to hire a Community Development Coordinator to lead this effort.
Clarion Regional Healthcare Collaborative
The CRHC was formed in 2022 by Clarion County healthcare professionals in order to develop collaborative strategies that address the health and wellness challenges that rural communities are prone to experiencing. The CCEDC has taken a central role in helping to facilitate this group, as many of the challenges identified by the CRHC have direct links to rural economic development. The CCEDC was awarded $25,000 by The Phillips Trust, which will be used to further develop and define the CRHC as an entity. The CRHC is led and chaired by Kayla Lee, Director of Education and Training at Clarion Psychiatric Center.
$268,100 toward Clarion Hospital for New Emergency Vehicles
In March 2023, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Financing Agency announced the CCEDC had won a grant on behalf of Clarion Hospital for the procurement of two new emergency vehicles. The CCEDC had applied to the DCED Local Share Account in 2021 on behalf of Clarion Hospital in 2021.
Interested in learning more about the CCEDC? Give us a call or send an email. We can be reached at 814-226-9045 or email the Executive Director at jarred@clarioncountyedc.com.