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Regional development nonprofit outlines loans, brownfields work and new housing fund for Swansea area
Summary
Cody Morrison, executive director of the Manadnock Economic Development Corporation, presented the nonprofit's regional services — technical assistance to businesses, brownfields remediation grants, a regional housing development fund and a home‑based childcare support program — and offered to coordinate with Swansea staff on projects.
Cody Morrison, executive director of the Manadnock Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), told the Swansea Select Board on July 23 that MEDC has broadened from primarily real‑estate development to offering technical assistance, financing and grant administration across about 40 communities in the Monadnock region.
Morrison said MEDC provided technical assistance to more than 20 businesses in the past year, offered loans and grants for community projects and approved more than $1 million in funding regionwide. He described several ongoing programs: a brownfields environmental‑remediation program run in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state, a newly launched regional housing development fund to provide gap or “mezzanine” financing for projects with an affordable component, and a home‑based childcare incubation and expansion program that would offer modest grants and business‑planning help to providers seeking licensure.
On housing, Morrison said MEDC aims to supply flexible gap financing for projects that include some units affordable to households earning roughly 8–80% of area median income; he emphasized the program is not as restrictive as certain federal programs and can act across a range of project sizes. In response to a question from Laurie about single‑family eligibility, Morrison said MEDC’s work is primarily rental‑focused and the organization is not yet set up to participate regularly in single‑family for‑sale financing because of deed‑restriction and compliance requirements.
MEDC described other services: acting as a local development district grant administrator for a Northern Borders grant tied to the West Swansea Village infrastructure project, maintaining a pipeline of grant sources for municipalities, launching a regional housing fund, and providing brownfields cleanup grants to towns including Jaffrey and Winchester. Morrison said the nonprofit will follow up with Swansea town staff and provide additional written materials and that MEDC is already working with Swansea planning staff and the economic development advisory committee.
Board members asked clarifying questions about program scope and eligibility; Morrison said MEDC can refer towns to other agencies when a project falls outside MEDC’s expertise. No formal action or commitment of town funds was made at the meeting.
