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Advisory board starts postmortem on rural grants, considers handbook, applicant workshops and microgrants for young entrepreneurs
Summary
Members reviewed the RCG subgrant process, debated whether nonprofits should be eligible, and agreed to draft a short handbook documenting procedures. The board and local partners proposed workshops and SBDC counseling to improve applicant success and discussed carving a small microgrant for youth startups.
Board members conducted a postmortem of the county’s recent rural community grant (RCG) application process and discussed how to improve future rounds. Melissa Jeffers and other members urged capturing institutional knowledge in a short handbook or step-by-step guide so future boards and staff can run a consistent subgrant program. Melissa said the first year’s process yielded a lot of lessons and recommended documenting what worked and what to change.
Members debated whether nonprofit organizations should be eligible for RCG subgrants. Forrest Rogers argued that nonprofit status is a tax designation and that eligibility should be based on the project’s measurable economic impact rather than organizational type: “...all nonprofits, that's just a tax status, and it's certainly not a business model,” he said, urging the board to focus on potential impact. Other members stressed fairness concerns and suggested the board define clear impact criteria and top-priority outcomes for the county.
The board discussed practical steps to improve future application cycles: a pre-application workshop, a phased application (short pre-application followed by fuller requests from finalists), and circulating written questions to applicants in advance of interviews so applicants can prepare substantive responses. Todd Thompson of the Small Business Development Center offered direct support: he told the board his office can provide business-plan counseling, hands-on help with financial projections and training workshops to increase applicants’ readiness.
Several members proposed targeted uses for a portion of the RCG funds. One member suggested carving off about $10,000 for microgrants to support young entrepreneurs through a high-school 'Shark Tank' or similar local competition, coupled with mandatory counseling and bookkeeping coursework. The board discussed tying such small grants to counseling and to USU or SBDC training so recipients receive both funding and capacity-building support.
The board agreed to have a subcommittee document the current process, circulate a draft handbook for comment, and start a strategic discussion about the grant program’s top priorities. Members also noted upcoming opportunities for training and regional collaboration, including an Eastern Economic Summit in October.
Next steps include drafting the handbook, planning a pre-application workshop, and deciding whether to recommend a youth microgrant pilot or other targeted funding priorities to the commission.
