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Regional council outlines gap-funding, meat-processing loans and technical-assistance hire; county dues reduced
Summary
Brent, executive director of the Lewis and Clark regional council, briefed the Board on gap-funding programs for businesses and housing, a loan program for meat and poultry processors, technical-assistance expansion funded by state money, and the council’s dues request (reduced from last year for one county example). No county action was taken.
Brent, identified as executive director of the Lewis and Clark regional council, briefed the Emmons County Board of Commissioners on the council’s programs, recent projects and a proposed staffing expansion for technical assistance.
Brent described four program areas: gap funding for business startups and expansions; a housing arm that works with housing tax credits and incentives; an EP2 down-payment program for essential public employees; and an intermediary lending program aimed at diversifying meat and poultry processing capacity. He said the EP2 program provides a down payment assistance loan of $10,000 at about 4 percent for 10 years to essential public employees, and that the meat-processing intermediary program can offer low-interest loans (Brent cited examples such as 1.5 percent for 10-year terms and 4 percent for 30-year terms) to finance equipment, facilities and value-added processors.
Brent said the council has distributed earlier rounds of federal and state funds and expects to manage additional capital for the meat-processing program: “We have 15,000,000. We've actually been asked because we were so successful in getting that funds out. We've been asked about another ... 15,000,000,” he said. He cited examples of past projects the council supported, including acquisition and renovation in downtown communities and a butcher shop financed through the intermediary program.
On housing and local government support, Brent said the council reduced member dues compared with the previous year and gave an example: “The dues that we're looking for, for Adams County is $5,359.79. Last year, it was $6,265,” adding that the council sought to ease budgets while preserving services. He also said the council will use a new state-funded allocation to hire a resource development director to help city and county officials with grant-writing and application assistance.
Why it matters: The programs Brent described are intended to fill local financing gaps for businesses and housing, and the proposed technical-assistance hire is aimed at increasing local governments’ access to state and federal grant funding. Commissioners asked procedural and eligibility questions; no formal vote or commitment to specific funding was recorded.
Brent encouraged officials and constituents to contact the council about projects and emphasized partnerships with local banks and lenders to structure deals.
