Economic Development

The City of Fanning Springs actively seeks opportunities to support small and emerging private businesses!

Two programs that the City can use as a tool to provide infrastructure and other improvements to existing and new small businesses are:

  • The Community Development Block Grant-Economic Development (CDBG-ED) category
  • The United States Department of Agriculture-Rural Development (USDA-RD), Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG)

Community Development Block Grant-Economic Development (CDBG-ED)
The CDBG-ED Grant Program is designed to assist new businesses and those seeking to expand. Some key requirements:

The program can pay for public infrastructure that the business needs. Examples are water or wastewater lines, turn lanes, lighting, roads & drainage, etc. The program is jobs driven. For each job created, up to $35,000 of funding is allowed. Example: a business will be hiring 10 employees. The grant could pay up to $350,000 for needed infrastructure, up to a cap of $1,500,000. 51% of the jobs created must be available to low & moderate income people who are not required to have a college education. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Business Enterprise Grants (RBEG)

The RBEG program is a broad-based program that reaches to the core of rural development in a number of ways. Examples of eligible fund use include:

Acquisition or development of land, easements, or rights of way Construction, conversion, renovation, of buildings, plants, machinery, equipment Access streets and roads, parking areas Utilities; rural transportation improvements; and project planning. Any project funded under the RBEG program should benefit small and emerging private businesses in rural areas. Small and emerging private businesses are those that employ 50 or fewer employees and have less than $1 million in projected gross revenues.

The Next Steps:
If you are a business owner developing a plan to locate or expand within the City of Fanning Springs contact the Mayors Office. We would be happy to discuss any potential to assist you with an economic development grant.

Mayor Howell E. “Trip” Lancaster, III
352-463-2855 ext. 203