Funding Opportunities

In the second half of this page, you will find a list of several grant programs with which Foothills Regional Commission has previously engaged. This list is of available opportunities is far from exhaustive.

For more funding opportunities, we highly recommend exploring the following guides:

• NC Main Street & Rural Planning Center Potential Funding Sources and Resources for Downtown Economic Development
• Funding Opportunities: COVID compiled by Dogwood Health Trust
• Funding Opportunities: Health & Behavioral/Mental Health Grants compiled by Dogwood Health Trust
• Hometown Strong Rural Resource Inventory
• Broadband USA Federal Funding Opportunities

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NC Dept. of Commerce 2022 Development Tier Designations

Since 2007, North Carolina has used a three-level system for designating development tiers. The designations, which are mandated by state law, determine a variety of state funding opportunities to assist in economic development.

The state assigns each county to a designation of Tier One (most distressed), Tier Two, or Tier Three (least distressed) based on average unemployment rate, median household income, percentage growth in population, and adjusted property tax base per capita.

In the 2022 designations, the four Foothills counties ranked as follows:

• Cleveland County – Tier One
• McDowell County – Tier Two
• Polk County – Tier Two
• Rutherford County – Tier One

The NC Department of Commerce’s full memo on the 2022 designations is available here.

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Grant Sources & Programs

Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC)

• ARC Project Grants – ROLLING
  • Eligible Activities
    • Business Development and Entrepreneurship – ARC makes a wide range of grants to public and private nonprofit organizations to help firms create and retain jobs in the Region.
    • Education and Training – ARC funds projects that develop, support, or expand education and training programs.
    • Healthcare – ARC health care grants can be made for equipment and demonstration projects, and in special cases for renovation and construction of facilities. 
    • Physical Infrastructure – Basic Infrastructure. ARC provides funds for basic infrastructure services, including water and sewer facilities, that enhance economic development opportunities or address serious health issues for residential customers. Housing. ARC supports projects that stimulate the construction or rehabilitation of housing for low- and moderate-income residents. ARC housing grants fund planning, technical services, and other preliminary expenses of developing housing projects, as well as demolition and necessary site improvements, including excavation, landfills, land clearing and grading; and infrastructure improvements, such as water and sewer system construction.
    • Telecommunications. ARC funds several telecommunications activities, including strategic community planning, equipment acquisition, and hardware and software for network building. 
    • Leadership Development and Civic Capacity – Eligible activities include the development and implementation of community-based strategic plans; training for citizen leaders (both adult and youth leaders), local officials, and management staff from nonprofit community organizations; organizational support for community organizations, and other activities that help build a community’s capacity to mobilize resources, gain leadership experience, and strengthen community institutions and partnerships.
      
• Business Development Revolving Loan Fund Grants – ROLLING
  • Business development revolving loan funds (RLFs) are pools of money used by grantees to make loans to create and retain jobs. As loans are repaid, money is returned to the fund and made available for additional loans.
    
• Distressed Counties Grants – ROLLING
  • ARC targets special resources to the most economically distressed counties in the Region, using a measure of economic distress based on three economic indicators: three-year average unemployment rates, per capita market income, and poverty rates. 
  • Besides allocating funding to benefit distressed counties, ARC has established other policies to reduce economic distress. ARC normally limits its maximum project funding contribution to 50 percent of costs, but it can increase its funding share to as much as 80 percent in distressed counties.

Golden LEAF Foundation

• Disaster Recovery Grant Program – ROLLING
  • The State of North Carolina provided funds to the Golden LEAF Foundation to make grants to governmental entities and 501(c)(3) nonprofits to repair or replace infrastructure and equipment damaged or destroyed by Hurricanes Matthew, Florence, Michael, and Dorian.
  • Infrastructure includes nonresidential buildings that serve the public, water, sewer, stormwater, and other publicly owned assets.
    
• Open Grants Program – ROLLING
  • The Open Grants Program is designed to make it easier for applicants to submit a proposal to Golden LEAF and to make funding opportunities available throughout the year.
  • This program is for Economic Development projects in the areas of Economic Investment and Job Creation, Workforce Preparedness and Education, Agriculture, and Community Vitality.
    
• Economic Catalyst Program – ROLLING
  • Golden LEAF will consider applications to assist eligible state, regional and local economic development entities with grants to support permissible activities in projects in which a company will commit to creating a specific number of full-time jobs in a tobacco-dependent or economically distressed area
  • Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact Golden LEAF staff to discuss the potential projects and conditions that may be applied before applying.
  • Competitive applications will include information showing that the expected job creation is AT RISK without Golden LEAF support.

• Golden LEAF Infrastructure Grants – ROLLING
  • The Golden LEAF Foundation, a North Carolina grant-making organization, will consider applications to assist eligible state, regional and local economic development entities with grants to support permissible activities in projects in which a company will commit to creating a specific number of full-time jobs in a tobacco-dependent or economically distressed area.
  • Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact Golden LEAF staff to discuss the potential projects and conditions that may be applied before applying.
  • Applications in this program must be for projects that will lead to job creation by a company that will commit to creating the jobs if Golden LEAF provides a grant for the project.