Missouri Department of Economic Development of ficials hosted a public meeting in Trenton today where they shared information about some of the newest programs now available to help Missouri communities address infrastructure needs and remain competitive in the global economy.
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Missouri Department of Economic Development of ficials hosted a public meeting in Trenton today where they shared information about some of the newest programs now available to help Missouri communities address infrastructure needs and remain competitive in the global economy.
The forum was held at Geyer Hall on the North Central Missouri College campus. It was one of several meetings that are being held at various locations across the state this week to inform and educate the department?s local partners about its newest economic and community development tool – the JOBS NOW Act, just signed into law last week by Gov. Holden.
?Governor Holden and the General Assembly have been very proactive in passing economic development legislation that will help Missouri?s communities, businesses and families remain competitive in the new knowledge-based economy,? said DED Director Kelvin Simmons. ?Our staff wants to ensure that Missouri?s business and community leaders are well informed about how these new incentives can be used to help build infrastructure capacity and create new jobs.?
The JOBS NOW Act includes several economic development components. It creates funding opportunities for
cities and counties to access grants or low or no-interest loans for public infrastructure projects. It calls for enhanced Enterprise Zones that will provide qualifying communities with the opportunity to offer tax incentives as an incentive to attract new business and jobs. The Act allows use of $ 15 million dollars to help retrain existing workers by advancing their skills to keep up with technology upgrades by their employer. It also increases the annual cap from $ 11 million to $ 15 million for the BUILD program, which is designed to offer incentives to projects with over 100 new manufacturing jobs or 500 of fice jobs.
DED officials also provided information about the programs and application processes for the Missouri Downtown and Rural Economic Stimulus Acts, which were signed into law in 2003 and funded by the General Assembly in 2004.
The Missouri Downtown Economic Stimulus Act provides public financing for qualifying community enhancement or job creation projects in the downtown areas of cities and towns across Missouri. The program allows cities to apply for a portion of the new state revenues to be generated by projects that gain approval to preserve and improve downtown infrastructure, thus helping our communities achieve sustained economic growth and attract knowledge-based workers and businesses.
The Missouri Rural Economic Stimulus Act provides public financing for qualifying renewable fuel production facility projects. MORESA is a partnership between the Missouri Agricultural and Small Business Development Authority, the Missouri Departments of Agriculture and Economic Development and the local sponsor.
In addition to educating the public about the newest infrastructure-related programs, the department also used the forum to gain valuable public input on how best to design, implement and improve the application processes for the new JOBS NOW program.
?In order to ensure the quickest and most efficient access to the new JOBS NOW funding sources, the department is working very hard to create guidelines and determine the application process,? said Kelvin Simmons, DED director. ?We feel that directly involving our local partners in this process will ensure the best future success rate for this program.?
According to the JOBS NOW legislation, communities seeking grants or loans through the new JOBS NOW program must apply to the Missouri Development Finance Board and the JOBS NOW Recommendation Committee, comprised of representatives of various state agencies.