Agency of Commerce outlines grant inventory, Brownfields unmet need and RDC constraints
Loading...
Summary
Dan Dickerson (ACCD) told the committee the agency’s grants inventory mirrors prior-year funding levels, flagged roughly $17 million of unmet Brownfields need, explained mechanics of a $5 million rural industrial appropriation and discussed options to convert loans to grants to spur RDC-led commercial development.
Dan Dickerson, director of administrative services for the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, walked the House Commerce & Economic Development Committee through the department’s grants inventory in the FY2027 budget packet and answered members’ questions about performance metrics and program design.
“We do an inventory of grants that we intend to send out the door, assuming that the legislature authorizes the funding,” Dickerson said, describing the inventory as a replication of prior-year grant levels and asking whether members had specific programmatic questions.
Committee members asked how the agency assesses grant performance and whether regional development corporation (RDC) block grants are divided evenly. Dickerson and commissioners explained that RDCs receive approximately $132,000–$134,000 each and must report quarterly on activities such as business visits, workshops and property lists; the agency reviews narratives and may suggest operational improvements but noted regional variation in capacity.
The panel described the Vermont Training Program’s final report and post-award follow-ups intended to ensure companies fulfill commitments; auditors had earlier questioned funding of firms that already budget for training, and the agency said applications flag recurring training to avoid supplanting private training budgets.
Panelists also raised capital and environmental concerns. They estimated approximately $17,000,000 in unmet demand for Brownfields revitalization in applicant pipelines and cautioned that recently reported lower soil lead and arsenic thresholds could sharply increase remediation costs and make some projects infeasible. Dan flagged a technical budget issue: a previous $5,000,000 rural industrial bridge appropriation includes statutory return language that prevents the appropriation’s fund from revolving as program architects intended; changing that mechanic would likely require legislative language.
Members discussed program design alternatives—shifting from loans with high match requirements (80/20) to grants with lower matches (50/50) and removing deed-restriction return clauses to encourage RDCs to build speculative commercial stock. The agency said language changes are under consideration and that it will follow up with additional details the committee requests.
