SITE Program information, applications live on Golden LEAF website | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    Applications for the Fall 2022 Golden LEAF SITE Program are now live with all information and applications available on the website at www.goldenleaf.org/SITE. The program will help rural, economically distressed communities identify potential industrial sites for economic development, complete the due diligence necessary to prepare sites for industrial development, and extend public utilities to or conduct rough grading and clearing of sites for which due diligence has been completed.

    Golden LEAF has budgeted $15 million for the program this fiscal year which will be awarded in two rounds: Fall 2022 and Spring 2023. Applications for the Fall 2022 round are due September 19 at noon for consideration by the Golden LEAF Foundation Board of Directors at their December 2022 meeting. Golden LEAF will reserve approximately $7.5 million for funding the SITE Program in Spring 2023. The application deadline for the Spring 2023 round will be announced later this year.

    To kick off this round of the SITE Program, Golden LEAF staff will host an informational webinar on Monday, August 1 at 2 p.m. Click here to register.

    Golden LEAF created the SITE Program with a three-phased approach:

• SITE Program - Identification support to identify potential industrial sites in communities that do not currently have quality industrial sites to market.
• SITE Program - Due diligence funding to complete eligible due diligence activities such as environmental assessments, archaeological analyses, and mapping.
• SITE Program - Development funding for public infrastructure and, for publicly owned sites, clearing and rough grading, to benefit sites that have completed the due diligence necessary to demonstrate that the site is suitable for development.

    Golden LEAF intends for the SITE Program to complement other site readiness and site development programs existing in North Carolina and has coordinated its requirements with those other programs. Applicants will be able to begin the process at any of the three phases, and a site may progress from identification through to development over time.

    All updates and details will be posted on our website under the SITE Program. For more information, visit www.goldenleaf.org/SITE.