THE GRANT APPLICATION PROCESS

The prospective applicant contacts SEDC's staff and briefly details the scope and goal of the proposed economic development project.  Applicants should be prepared to provide additional information about the project including, but not limited, to:  Number of jobs being saved or created by the project, total estimated project cost, location (site) of the project, the name of the industry (ies) creating or sustaining employment, and if the prospective industry is an existing plant undergoing an expansion or reorganization, or a newly locating facility.

After obtaining the necessary information, SEDC's staff determines if the proposed project meets EDA's eligibility criteria. 

If the proposed project does not meet EDA's guidelines: SEDC's staff promptly notifies the applicant, giving a detailed explanation of the reason behind the project's shortfall.  If the project's ineligibility can be remedied, the staff instructs the prospective applicant of the additional steps to take, and then re-evaluates the project.

If the proposed project does meet EDA's guidelines:  SEDC's staff instructs the applicant to have a Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) prepared that describes in detail the scope of work and physical impact of the project.  The staff will also give the industry involved, known as the beneficiary, civil rights compliance forms which must be completed for the grant process to continue.  

After receiving the PER and the completed civil rights forms, SEDC's staff, the Economic Development Representative (EDR), and the project participants meet to discuss the development of a formal project proposal.

Next, the official project proposal is submitted to the EDR.  The EDR carefully reviews the proposal for accuracy, clarity, and completeness.  If there are any needed changes, the EDR promptly notifies the staff, which in turn, informs the applicant.  Once the corrections, if any, are made, the EDR forwards the proposal to EDA's Regional Office in Atlanta, Georgia.

EDA-Atlanta convenes a Project Review Committee (PRC) meeting.  During this special meeting , the pros and cons of the project are carefully weighed, and the venture's overall economic impact is studied.  EDA-Atlanta then determines the next phase of the process:

After the application conference, the necessary forms are completed by the applicant, and promptly submitted to the staff.  The staff then assembles the final application, and promptly submits it to the EDR.

The EDR reviews the application for accuracy and completeness, and submits the original and two copies to EDA-Atlanta.  In Atlanta, the applicaton is separated among the following divisions:   Planning, Public Works, Engineering, Legal, Civil Rights, and Environmental.   Each division reviews the portion of the application which corresponds to its function in the approval process.

If the project satisfactorily meets all guidelines and requirements of each division, then a summary of the project is sent to EDA-Washington.  Once the summary is received, EDA-Washington allocates the appropriated funds for the project in its treasury.  EDA-Atlanta then approves the project, and makes a formal grant offer to the applicant.