Commercial Grants

Yes, commercial grants are available.  Identifying such grants means doing one’s homework, and clearly articulating the reason for the requested funds to ensure a favorable reply.

Let’s start with commercial grants.  Such grants provide funds for construction and renovation projects, enforce building costs, and rebuild after natural disasters.  Acceptable expenditures include administrative costs and labor. Several avenues exist to obtain commercial building grants.  They include:  Community Facilities Grants overseen by the Department of Agriculture, Community Entitlement Grants sponsored by Housing and Urban Development, and the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funded by FEMA.  Each of these grants has strict eligibility rules and guidelines, so it is very important to understand them before starting the grant application.

Other federally-sponsored commercial grants stimulate job grown and retention.  Some of these grants provide for the development of a workforce thus ensuring that existing commercial buildings maintain their energy performance potential while also ensuring that new commercial buildings are not sub-standard, i.e., do not fall below their expected optimal level of performance.

Interestingly enough some power companies sponsor commercial and industrial conservation grants for businesses in a given locality.  Such grants fund unique energy-conservation ideas so commercial enterprises should investigate the availability of such grants in their areas.

States, too, offer commercial grants.  Not researching these vital resources could be detrimental to a business’s growth, and its success.  In 2010, Indiana earmarked $2M for the commercial and industry sectors involved in energy-efficiency development.  The grants ranged from $50,000 to $ 400,000, and included technologies such as chillers, sensor-controlled lighting, furnaces and other energy-management controls.  Massachusetts offered grants for commercial businesses to more fully develop wind technologies!  The lesson here:  Research at the State Level, significant funds are available for commercial enterprises, particularly those on the cutting edge of new technologies.

And then there are cities.  Do not hesitate to contact city officials.  In Fort Wayne, IN, the mayor announced grants to strengthen businesses, and spruce up commercial corridors.  The City of Elgin, IL received federal monies that, in turn, provide grants through the city’s Commercial Retrofit Grant Program. It assists commercial property owners with retrofitting their buildings for energy-efficiency.

In the fishing industry, commercial grants are provided by several agencies.  Through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a division within the Department of Commerce, commercial fishing grants provide funds to restore harvests, control certain fish populations as well as providing economic opportunities.  Furthermore, some commercial grants for the fishing industry are made available for specific bodies of water.

There are commercial grants for the salmon-industry as well.   These grants are highly restrictive, and are only for certain designated entities.  It is, therefore, most important to determine eligibility and all other stipulations to ensure that the grantor guidelines are matched to the recipient’s request.

Commercial grants offer numerous funding opportunities.  From renovation projects to fishing initiatives, from wind technologies to commercial motor vehicle training, these grants specialize in assisting the commercial business succeed in the 21st century global economy.

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