A wood pellet plant in Island Pond and a social service organization in Barre were among nine Vermont projects that will share almost $3 million in state grant funds.
Lieutenant Governor Brian Dubie announced the award of $2.9 million in Vermont Community Development Program grants at a ceremony at the P & S Furniture Store in Barre, which is slated to become the new home of the Central Vermont Community Action Council with the help of an $800,000 grant to the City of Barre.
These grants are going to help Vermonters all over the state, creating much-needed jobs and affordable housing for our communities, Dubie said.
CVCAC, a nonprofit providing anti-poverty and economic development programs for low to moderate income residents in central Vermont, has outgrown its main offices on Route 302 in Berlin, forcing the group to rent multiple office spaces in the area.
The new 21st Century Community Action Campus at Gable Place will provide adequate work space to consolidate its programs and expand its weatherization activities and community economic development programs and services.
Consolidating our programs in a single, more energy efficient space will make it easier to provide services to area residents; incorporate green energy efficiency technologies; and promote local economic development in the community, said Hal Cohen, Executive Director of CVCAC.
The town of Brighton will receive $1,000,000 for the re-development of the vacant former Ethan Allen plant in Island Pond into a wood pellet manufacturing facility.
The money will be loaned to the Vermont Biomass Energy Company at 0% interest for 10 years to help develop a factory that will have the capacity to produce 100,000 tons of wood pellets annually, and will create 25 jobs for area residents.
This is an investment in green job creation in an area of the state that can really use it, Dubie said.
Other grants include:
$600,000 for the City of Newport to redevelop three multi-family properties with 16 units of old, sub-standard housing into 21 units of new and fully rehabilitated affordable housing;
$330,000 for the town of Windsor for an energy efficient rehabilitation of the historic Olde Windsor Village Apartments, which contains seventy-seven units of rental housing for low-income seniors, families and the disabled;
$125,000 for the City of St. Albans to help pay for Phase I of the City s Downtown Streetscape Project, a four-phase multi-year project that will remake the downtown;
$30,000 to the town of Coventry, which will be used to hire a consultant to study the economic impact of expanding the Newport State Airport and how it will affect the surrounding communities;
$30,000 for the Village of Derby Center to plan for expansion of the Dailey Memorial Library building and improving its accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act;
$28,503 to the Town of Glover to study the buying patterns of second homeowners in the Barton Trade Area and develop recommendations for area businesses to make them more sustainable and;
$30,000 for the town of Guilford to develop a plan to preserve and revitalize the Guilford Country Store by keeping it in local ownership.
The grants awarded are federal money that flows to the state of Vermont from the Community Development Block Grant Program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
These grants are important because they leverage other financial resources and help address critical needs in our communities, Dubie said. The $2.9 million we are awarding will leverage more than $34 million in other funds from private and public sources.
The Agency awards the competitive grants based on recommendations of the Vermont Community Development Board and approval of Commerce and Community Development Secretary Kevin Dorn.
Source: Commerce Agency. 6.17.2010