OneGeorgia - Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are eligible applicants?

Applicants

Applicants are cities, counties, government authorities and multi-county or multi-jurisdictional development authorities.

When can I apply?
Applications may be received at any time.

Eligible

OneGeorgia recognizes those counties as directly eligible for OneGeorgia assistance that meet the definition of "a county that is located outside the boundaries of a metropolitan area with a population of 50,000 or less and with a poverty rate of 10% or greater."

Conditionally Eligible

Counties with a population of less than 500,000 that share a border with a directly eligible rural county are designated as conditionally eligible. Conditionally eligible counties are recognized as having the opportunity to be important collaborative partners to adjacent rural counties by maximizing regional strengths and minimizing weaknesses. These collaborative efforts can support mutually beneficial goals for the region and are meant to support a large, regional economic development project when it is most economically feasible for a directly eligible rural county to partner in a regional application with a conditionally eligible county to achieve sustainable and quantifiable positive economic and public benefit.

Not Eligible

Counties with a population greater than 500,000 are not eligible for OneGeorgia funds, but continue to be eligible for other state and federal community and economic development programs. Such programs include Regional Economic Business Assistance (REBA), Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), Local Development Funds (LDF), TEA-21 grants, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and many more.

What happens if my county's eligibility status changes?
Several counties may indeed change eligibility on January 1st of each year. If the OneGeorgia Authority receives an application after January 1st, the county’s eligibility status will be based on the newest estimated source data.

What is the source data used to determine eligibility?

A) County Population – Source data from the United States Census Bureau, Population Division --Table 2: Annual Estimates of the Population by Sex and Age for Georgia

B) County Poverty Rate – Source data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 Decennial Census (Census 2000 Summary File 3 (SF 3) Sample data.

C) Per Capita Income – Source data from Claritas: Annual Demographic Update

What are the limitations on funding per project?
The Equity fund allows single county projects to receive up to $200,000, two county projects to receive up to $300,000 and projects involving three or more counties can receive up to $500,000.

There is no per project cap on the EDGE fund.

Can non-profits compete for OneGeorgia funds?
Non-profit organizations are not eligible applicants; however, eligible recipients may choose to contract with non-profits to perform certain services or functions and therefore would be viewed as sub-recipients of OneGeorgia Authority funds.

Can private businesses be recipients of OneGeorgia funds?
Businesses may not be applicants but may be sub-recipients. Typically, OneGeorgia Authority funds would be used to acquire or improve assets (such as land, buildings, machinery, etc…) that are then provided by the eligible applicant to a business entity through a lease agreement.

What happens to loans that are repaid to the Authority?
Loan money, along with interest, repaid to the Authority will be used to help finance future community and economic development projects of the Authority.

What are examples of eligible uses of EDGE Funds?
Projects relating to public infrastructure, land acquisition and site development.

Can EDGE funds be used for job expansion and retention as well as new business locations?
Yes.

Can EDGE funds be used to give one Georgia community an advantage over another Georgia community?
No. The purpose of the EDGE fund is to give a qualified county in Georgia the ability to close a deal (business expansion or location) when competing with a community in another state or another country.

Under the EDGE fund, what is a competitive project?
A project is considered "competitive" when a company is considering a Georgia community as well as a location from outside the state of Georgia .

What are examples of eligible uses of Equity Funds?
Projects relating to water and sewer infrastructure, road, rail and airport improvements, industrial parks, workforce, technology, and tourism.

If an applicant is not successful in an Equity application, can they compete again?
Absolutely. We hope that applicants will definitely apply again if they are not successful the first time. Counseling will be provided to help determine how the project can be made more competitive.

Can Equity funds be used to capitalize revolving loan funds?
No, the capitalization of local or regional revolving loan funds is not eligible. The Authority itself will have a revolving loan fund, and repaid loan money will be used to fund additional community and economic development projects.

Can Equity funds be used for grant preparation and management?
No. If consultants or grant writers were employed to write and/or manage Equity grants, we would expect the applicant to provide the funds outside the actual grant award as part of its contribution/match to the project. There may be rare instances, however, when overwhelming justification and documentation submitted by the applicant might be sufficient to justify granting an exception. Please note that engineering, architectural and inspection costs are considered to be part of construction costs, and as such, are clearly eligible.

Can Equity money be used to fund salaries?
Equity Funds are not intended to fund what should be routine, on-going community and economic development efforts at the local or regional level, such as the staffing of various development authority offices. One time technical assistance efforts, on the other hand, are eligible and may be competitive if well justified, and if the application demonstrates the local commitment to use the results of the technical assistance and fully implement its recommendations.

Can multi-year commitments be made under the Equity fund?
It is highly likely that most projects will take longer than one year to implement and if funded, the award from the OneGeorgia Authority may be carried forward for longer than a one-year period. On the other hand, certain projects may be too large and/or complex as to need to be implemented in phases. In such cases, the OneGeorgia Authority's commitment will be only for one phase at a time. That will not prevent the applicant from submitting subsequent applications for the latter phases but a commitment of funding for one phase will not bind the Authority to automatically funding subsequent phases.
The EDGE and Equity regulations suggest that an impact analysis to be done for the proposed project.

Why is such an analysis important, when is benefit analysis needed, what models are available, how much time does it take and who are the appropriate contacts?
A benefit analysis, where appropriate, may help to supplement and support the projected economic impacts identified by the applicant. The analysis helps the applicant and the Authority weigh the relative costs and benefits of the project.

Contacts:

For LOCI and Implan – Statewide
Bill Riall
Ga. Tech Center for Economic Development Services
404-894-3800

For Implan - Statewide

Keith Atkins
The University of Georgia
Small Business Development Center
706-542-8322

For REMI and Implan – State Service Delivery Regions 7, 9, 11, 12
Phyllis Isley
Georgia Southern, Bureau of Business Research & Economic Development
912-681-0213

What resources are available for technical assistance?
We suggest the following organizations as good resources: the Regional Development Centers (RDCs), the regional staff of the Department of Community Affairs and the Georgia Department of Economic Development, the regional staff of Georgia Tech EDI and UGA Business Outreach Services/Small Business Development Centers and well as other Colleges, Universities and Technical Colleges and Institutions.

How do the Equity and EDGE differ from existing state economic development programs?
These programs are intended to augment and compliment existing economic development programs. Equity and EDGE are not intended to compete with or supplant current programs. In addition, these two funds are very limited; therefore, other federal or state programs should be used if applicable and available before approaching the Authority. The EDGE fund is very similar to REBA which is still available through the Department of Community Affairs for qualified projects.

Who qualifies for Regional E-911 assistance?
As of January 1, 2025 , there are 11 counties in Georgia without any basic E-911 service. OneGeorgia Authority has set aside $3,000,000 to help these counties establish Regional E-911 service. OneGeorgia Authority defines “regional” as an E-9-1-1 system that is: a) jointly owned by two or more counties; b) owned by an authority that contains at least two counties; or c) involves an intergovernmental service agreement between multiple public jurisdictions containing two or more counties. Award limits will be based on the number of counties combined: 2 counties maximum $400,000, 3 counties maximum $500,000, 4 counties maximum $600,000 and 5 or more counties maximum $700,000.

What activities can E-911 funds finance?
Eligible activities include, but are not limited to, the provision of such public infrastructure, services, facilities and improvements needed to implement Enhanced 9-1-1 emergency telephone services. These activities may include planning services and technical assistance, the purchase of machinery, equipment and software, technology infrastructure, public utilities, public facilities and services, real property rehabilitation, the acquisition of real property, site preparation and improvements and construction.