State outreach manager details rural grants, loan program and grant-writing help for Summit County communities

Laurie Haslam, an outreach manager with the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, told the Summit County Council of Governments on Sept. 19 that the state offers several grant and loan tools for rural communities, including a $200,000 Rural County Grant (RCG) for eligible counties and a competitive municipal Rural Communities Opportunity Grant (RCOG) that requires a 20% local match.

Haslam described the RCG as a $200,000 per-county allocation reviewed by a local economic development committee that proposes and scores projects for local economic development. She said counties have used the funds for small-business matching grants (some counties award up to about $5,000 per business with a 50% match), contractor training and local pitch competitions.

The outreach manager cautioned that RCG funds generally cannot be used for wages or direct real-estate purchases; instead, local governments may purchase property and use grant funds for infrastructure, renovation or related project costs. “We don’t do grant funding to purchase real estate,” Haslam said. “But…you could use the grant funding for all the infrastructure to bring in electricity, sidewalks and roads.”

Haslam also outlined the RCOG for municipalities, describing it in the meeting as a competitive opportunity (the transcript referenced a municipal figure of about $600,000 per city in examples). She said the office is piloting an ‘intent to apply’ pre-application on business.utah.gov to help screen projects and direct applicants to appropriate programs before they prepare full applications.

The presenter described a revolving loan program in development that she said would offer low-interest borrowing for counties and communities; the program was expected to be finalized after July but remained in development at the time of the meeting. Haslam pledged to notify local officials when the loan product launches.

Haslam emphasized other state supports: enterprise zone tax credits and a “ready” job-creation incentive (which she said can provide up to $6,000 per employee per year in rural areas on a post-performance basis), and individualized assistance for businesses seeking tax credits or incentives.

Noting a common capacity gap in small rural governments, Haslam offered grant-writing assistance and training. She said outreach staff are preparing a one-hour online grant-writing class and will review draft applications and language with applicants to improve scoring. “There’s a really big lack in someone that can actually write the grants,” she said, adding that outreach managers can help local officials reword responses and preview application questions.

Haslam walked attendees through the state portal (business.utah.gov), pointed out where programs and grant deadlines are posted, and urged local governments to create portal accounts early so state validation does not delay submissions. She left direct contact information for follow-up assistance (lori.haslam@utah.gov) and asked jurisdictions to submit a contact person if they want the pre-application training.

The council thanked Haslam for the presentation and opened the floor to municipal questions about specific projects such as downtown sewer-line work and business-disruption costs. Haslam said such costs can be included in grant requests but emphasized there is no guarantee of award and urged officials to consult the intent-to-apply tool.