Business in Our Sites applications open

Release Date: Aug 02, 2011 9:58 am | Author: Steven Kratz, DCED; 717-783-1132

Harrisburg –The Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA) Board of Directors approved a motion to begin accepting applications for the Business in Our Sites and PennWorks Programs, both programs assist with funding for the development of business sites in Pennsylvania. The application period will remain open until October 31, 2011.

“These two programs are a great example of state government partnering with private developers, local economic development organizations, and communities to develop shovel-ready sites to attract new investment and jobs,” Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary C. Alan Walker said. “There will be a heavy emphasis on financing high-impact projects in regions of the state where there is a significant need for developed business sites.”

The Business in Our Sites program provides loans for the acquisition and development of key sites for future use by businesses. PennWorks provides grants to municipalities and municipal authorities and loans to municipalities, municipal authorities, industrial development corporations and investor-owned water or wastewater enterprises for projects which construct, expand or improve water and wastewater infrastructure. Improvements must be directly related to an economic development project. Business in Our Sites and PennWorks are administered by the CFA.

The CFA plans to deploy approximately $38.5 million in funds that are available from loan repayments and projects that either did not use all of the awarded funding or did not proceed. Within the $38.5 million there is approximately $25 million available in Business in Our Sites that can be re-loaned and approximately $13.5 million in unused PennWorks funds that can be awarded in either loans or grants for water and sewer improvements.

Eligible applicants are encouraged to contact Brian Eckert or Scott Dunkelberger at (717) 787-7120 to discuss potential projects before commencing the application process. The CFA anticipates acting on Business in Our Sites and PennWorks applications at the January, 2012 board meeting.

For more information about economic development initiatives in Pennsylvania, call 1-866-466-3972 or visit newpa.com.

Media contact: Steven Kratz, 717-783-1132

Western Union supports 50 nonprofits

[from Philanthropy News Digest]

The Western Union Foundation in Englewood, Colorado, has announced second-quarter grants totaling $1.8 to nearly fifty nonprofits, including several working to expand global economic opportunity through programs that aim to improve access to labor markets and job training opportunities, enhance language acquisition, and help immigrants assimilate into their new communities.

To support international entrepreneurship, the foundation awarded several grants including $10,000 to Open Africa to provide training in marketing and business development to a group of women who have developed tourism services and attractions along a heavily used highway in rural South Africa, and $80,000 to Tsinghua University Education Foundation in China to provide senior university students and recent graduates with business training.

Through its Building Bridges initiative, the foundation awarded grants to organizations working to ease the transition of recent immigrants to their adopted countries. Recipients include Public Interest Projects, which was awarded $100,000 for a national grassroots effort to promote understanding between recent immigrants and their American-born neighbors; Upwardly Global, which received $15,000 to provide college-educated immigrants with career counseling services; and Shivi Development Society, which was awarded $10,000 to help support people in India moving from rural areas to cities.

"Today, many individuals endure loneliness and exile, simply to provide food, shelter, and other basic necessities for loved ones back home," said Western Union Foundation president Luella Chavez D'Angelo. "The organizations we support work tirelessly to ease some of the burdens faced by these people and their families, giving them a chance to build a better life. Western Union Foundation's greater goal is to help people prosper and create economic opportunity."

“Western Union Foundation Gives $1.8 Million to Create Global Economic Opportunity.” Western Union Foundation Press Release 8/10/11.