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June 28, 2009
ECEDA receives $75,000 state grant
By ADELLA HARDING - Free Press Staff Writer
ELKO, Elko County Economic Diversification Authority is receiving a $75,000 grant from the Nevada Commission on Economic Development for the 2009-2010 fiscal year, the state commission announced this week.
The $75,000 is $4,000 more than the state’s economic grant to the Elko County entity for the current fiscal year, and is a welcomed grant, ECEDA Chief Executive Officer Elaine Barkdull Spencer said.
The authority had been concerned that state budget cuts might prevent the state commission from approving any grants, but ECEDA is still receiving roughly $100,000 less than it received from the state for three years up until the 2008 fiscal year for special projects.
“We’re relieved, even though it’s not as much as in the past,” Barkdull Spencer said.
She said ECEDA will “be as active as ever” and plans to take advantage of a “window of opportunity” to recruit new businesses and industry at a time when Elko County is more economically sound than many other areas of the state and the nation.
“We were trying to prepare for the worst, but we ended up with the regular grant plus $4,000 more,” she said.
The state had provided grant money to ECEDA for special projects in addition to regular grants that were $71,000 last year and the prior year and $66,000 in earlier years, but “that money is gone now,” Barkdull Spencer said.
She said the county has stepped up to the plate and provided $40,000 in funds for ECEDA, which was $17,000 more than the county allocated to the authority in the past for its annual contribution.
The budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year is $198,000, compared with $222,000 for the fiscal year now ending, Barkdull Spencer said.
ECEDA’s state grant of $75,000 and the grants the commission approved this week for 10 other rural economic development authorities in the state were figured on a formula using unemployment rates and population, built upon a $40,000 base.
ECEDA’s population is higher than most of the other rural authorities, which led to a higher grant, but the jobless rate was lower. The formula used April jobless figures, and the Elko-Eureka combined rate was 6 percent in April, while the statewide rate was 10.6 percent.
The commission reported it awarded $755,000 total to help the rural programs.
“Providing the economic stimulus for business opportunity and job creation for Nevadans is a top priority,” said Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, chairman of the Nevada Commission on Economic Development.
“We have the resources, and we are delivering them to Nevada’s rural communities,” he said in the commission’s announcement this week.
The commission stated the grants include $200,000 to the Northern Nevada Development Authority for its Sierra Regional Economic Development program that will generate a minimum of 300 jobs with a combined impact of $50 million.
The Northern Nevada Development Authority includes the counties of Carson City, Storey, Lyon and Douglas.
The state’s announcement also said the commission awarded $55,000 to the Churchill Economic Development Authority for its Rural SOS Program, expected to infuse more than $800 million into the county, and $60,000 to Lincoln County Regional Economic Development Authority toward development of its industrial parks, which at full occupancy will create 1,500 new jobs.
“Job creation works on much the same principle as jump-starting a vehicle. Once an engine is running, it will recharge the battery,” said state economic development Commissioner LeRoy Goodman.
NCED Executive Director Mike Skaggs said the state commission “will be backing its investment by mobilizing its staff to provide training and rural outreach.”
The commission also reported that Lander and Eureka counties have projects planned that would stimulate both tax revenues and job creation.
Eureka, which is receiving a $40,000 base grant, up from $30,000 for the 2008-2009 fiscal year, is setting the stage for the proposed Mt. Hope molybdenum mine by developing industrial, retail and residential property, the commission stated.
General Moly is currently working with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management on the draft environmental impact statement for the planned mining project north of the town of Eureka.
Lander County, which is receiving $50,000, up from $40,000 for the 2008-2009 fiscal year, is pursuing renewable energy projects through the DAKOTA Project, which will develop 12,000 acres and provide 80 to 100 competitive wage jobs in Battle Mountain and the county, according to the state commission.
Other grants included: EDEN Inc. in Nye County, $55,000, up from $50,000 for the 2008-2009 fiscal year; the Greater Pershing Partnership, $60,000, up from $58,000; the Humboldt Development Authority, $40,000, the same as last year; the Mineral County Economic Development Authority, $60,000, up from $42,000; and the White Pine County Economic Diversification Council, $60,000, up from $50,500 in 2008-2009.
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