A four-state initiative to support economic development through preservation
The Northeast Heritage Economy Program is a collaborative initiative of the Preservation League of New York State, New Hampshire Preservation Alliance, Maine Preservation, and Preservation Trust of Vermont. This grant program is funded with a $1,000,000 grant from the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) through their Regional Forest Economy Partnership program. The grant will be split evenly among the four states.
The NHEP will provide grants to community-driven preservation projects to address the negative economic shift produced by the chronic and consistent decline of the forest products industry in the rural areas of the Northern Border Regional Commission region (New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine).
Announcing the NHEP Grant Recipients!
About the Program
Program Goal: Revitalize vacant and underused historic buildings in rural communities to stimulate economic development and tourism, build community cohesion, and create jobs in areas suffering from the decline of the forest products industry.
Program Strategy: Provide seed money to nonprofit or municipal grantees to create and/or enhance “third places” in rural communities where people gather, exchange ideas, experience culture, build relationships, and create community. These places help to make communities a desirable place to live, work, and start a business and include public spaces, like libraries and community centers providing critical resources for workforce development training, and cultural and arts centers offering classes, performances and partnerships.
In New York State grants can only be made in the following counties: Cayuga, Clinton, Essex, Fulton, Franklin, Genesee, Greene, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Livingston, Madison, Montgomery, Niagara, Oneida, Orleans, Oswego, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Schenectady, Seneca, Sullivan, Warren, Washington, Wayne, and Yates.
ELIGIBLE grantees must:
Be an established nonprofit organization, municipality, political subdivision of state government, or federally recognized tribe in order to receive funding;
Have in-hand a 50% match of any grant requested from the NHEP at the time of application;
All applicants must have secured all revenue listed in project budget and plan to have their project completed by July 31, 2021;
Own the target property(ies) and be prepared to maintain that ownership for a minimum of twenty (20) years following the completion of the project or have a long-term (minimum of 20 years) lease that provides the sub-grantee with legal control over the NHEP-funded improvements;
Propose a project in a county eligible to receive funding (see above) from the Northern Border Regional Commission and in a community negatively impacted by at least one of the NBRC’s threshold priorities:
Eligible projects must:
Serve as a capital improvement project for a historic building;
Be completed by July 31, 2021;
Impact rural communities suffering from the decline of the forest products industry;
Have as their focus the enhanced use, or the rehabilitation of, historic buildings using the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation;
Leverage additional public and private forms of support;
Stimulate economic development and creation of jobs;
Build local and regional partnerships;
Involve the broader community and build community cohesion;
Have a lasting and positive impact on the community
Ineligible Grantees:
Applicants who have received NBRC funding and do not have their project 75% completed by the application deadline are not eligible to apply for a NHEP grant.