General | Funds | Eligibility | Deadlines

General

How do I determine my tier status?
The tier map is included on this web site; however, additional information is available on the Department of Community Affairs web site at www.dca.state.ga.us. The four-tier map that has been distributed is "proposed". As required by state law, the Department of Community Affairs will publish the official rankings of counties by December 31, 2000, using the most current data available.

What happens if my county's tier status changes?
Several counties may indeed change tiers by January 1st. If the OneGeorgia Authority receives an EDGE application before the publication of the new map, the tier status will be based on the proposed tier map at the time of application. Obviously, eligibility for the first round of Equity competition will be based on the official January 1, 2025 tier map.

Will assistance be provided in the form of loans or grants and how is the form of assistance determined?
Depending upon the financial capacity of the applicant (and/or the financial capacity of the sub-recipient, depending on the type of project), assistance could be provided in the form of a grant, low-interest loan or a combination grant/loan. This capacity will be determined during the underwriting process.

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.

Will the OneGeorgia fund accounts be consistent from one year to the next?
After the legislature appropriates one third of the year's tobacco settlement to the OneGeorgia Authority, the Board will then consider what fund accounts are appropriate.  The fund accounts may very well vary from year to year.

What constitutes a regional project?
A regional project is defined as one that is undertaken cooperatively by multiple jurisdictions and/or by two or more counties and whose benefits multiple jurisdictions and/or two or more counties realize. Please refer to the Equity Fund Regulations at 413-1.07 Review of Applications, item (7) for additional information.

Who scores the projects and makes funding decisions?
The Department of Community Affairs is the Authority's contractual agent for financial management and will review and underwrite the applications and make funding recommendations to the Authority. In addition, the Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism will advise the Authority on funding of EDGE projects. Ultimately, however, the Executive Director of the Authority will be the loan and/or grant approval official for OneGeorgia funds.

How quickly will funding decisions be made?
The Equity funds will be awarded on March 30th, July 31st, and November 30th. EDGE funds will be awarded on a timely basis throughout the year. The Authority and its contractual agents understand that deal closing is time sensitive; therefore, decisions will be made with all deliberate speed.

You held applicant workshops in November. Are more planned?
The OneGeorgia Authority held a series of Applicant Workshops during the week of November 13th, 2000. Eligible applicants for OneGeorgia community and economic development funds include cities, counties and development authorities in Tier 1 and 2 counties and in some instances Tier 3 counties.

The Authority held a workshop for the second round of Equity Fund competition on April 10th, 2001, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Heart of Georgia Technical College in Dublin.

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 Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism, 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.

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Funds

Of the $62 million dollars allocated to the OneGeorgia Authority, how much is actually available for community and economic development projects during FY 2001 (until June 30, 2025)?
The EDGE and Equity funds are the two primary accounts that will be used to finance community and economic development projects.  $10 million is available through each fund during FY 2001.

How much money is available per round during the 2001 calendar year for Equity fund competition?
The January 16th and May 15th rounds are considered competitions for fiscal year 2001 and will have $5 million dollars available for award during each round. The September 14th competition will actually occur during the next fiscal year, so the OneGeorgia Authority Board will determine the amount available some time after the FY2002 appropriation bill is approved by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor. 

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. (See Line 4 c) of the Budget Form included in your application package).

Can Equity funds be used to capitalize revolving loan funds?
No, the capitalization of local or regional revolving loan funds are 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 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 so 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.

What are the limitations on funding per project?
The Equity fund is limited to $500,000 per project. There is no per project cap on the EDGE fund.

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 Tier 1 or 2 county in Georgia the ability to close a deal (business expansion or location) when competing with a community in another state or another country.

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

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

Is it possible to apply for an Equity and EDGE loan/grant simultaneously for the same project?
Yes.

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.

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

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?
Why its important
A benefit analysis, where appropriate, may help to supplement and support the projected economic impacts identified by the applicant, making the project more competitive. The analysis helps the applicant and the Authority, weigh the relative costs and benefits of the project.

Ideally, every application for OneGeorgia funds would describe in narrative form the public benefit that would result from the proposed project, and the narrative would be backed up through inclusion of a quantifiable analysis of the projected impact (number of jobs created, tax revenue generated, saving of other public funds, etc.)

However, it may not always be possible or appropriate to use a particular model to justify a specific Equity Fund Project. A particular project may not lend itself to that type of analysis, another type of analysis may be better suited to the specific project, or there may not be enough time to obtain such an analysis prior to the submission deadline. In such cases, it is the applicant's responsibility to provide as compelling and quantifiable analysis (of any type) as possible, keeping in mind that the competition for Equity Funds will be intense.

Finally, there my be instances when the OneGeorgia Authority will decide to fund some good projects contingent upon the later submission of a specific analysis. That would be done by means of a special condition attached to the grant award. Please be assured that in all cases, common sense will prevail!

When to conduct an analysis and what to use

• All EDGE applications must be accompanied by an impact analysis, preferably a LOCI analysis.
• A benefit analysis is not "required" for Equity applications. The Authority encourages applicants to determine, together with university staff, whether their project lends itself to a public benefit analysis.
• A LOCI or Implan analysis should, wherever possible, accompany an Equity application where direct job creation is involved. It is not, however, a strict requirement. It may be special conditioned on an award for these projects.
• Where a project involves tourism, downtown development, speculative developments or other types of projects not involving direct job creation, applicants will be advised to utilize REMI or other locally or regionally developed impact analysis in the event they desire an analysis to support their application.

Time Frame
Applicants are advised that in general, the universities should be allowed a minimum of 2 months to schedule and complete an analysis.

Contact People

For LOCI – Statewide
Greg King
Ga. Tech Center for Economic Development Services
912 953-3155

Or your local Tech EDI Office

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

For REMI - Statewide
Alfie Meek
UGA Business Outreach Services
706-583-0509

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

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 for Tier 1 and 2 counties. REBA is still available through the Department of Community Affairs for qualified projects in Tier 3 and Tier 4 counties.

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Who are eligible applicants?
Eligible applicants are cities, counties, government authorities and multi-county or multi-jurisdictional development authorities in Tier 1 or 2 counties. Eligible applicants in Tier 3 counties will also be considered under certain circumstances.

Are Tier 3 or 4 counties eligible to participate?
Applications from Tier 3 counties can be considered if the county adjoins a Tier 1 or 2 county and if the proposed project can show significant benefit to the Tier 1 or 2 county. Tier 4 counties are not eligible for OneGeorgia funds but continue to be eligible for other state and federal community and economic development programs such as 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. 

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.

If a Tier 4 county is part of a multi-county development authority or regional project, is the project automatically disqualified from accessing OneGeorgia funds?   
If the project involves the Tier 4 County (beyond the fact of its membership in the multi-county authority) and particularly if it creates any direct benefit for the Tier 4 county, it would require a very careful determination on a case-by-case basis. The burden of convincing the Authority of the eligibility of such a project would fall on the applicant and the evidence that the vast majority of benefit would accrue to a Tier 1 or 2 county would have to be overwhelming and extremely well documented.

If an applicant is not successful in a particular round of Equity competition, 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 an applicant submit more than one Equity application per round?
There is no limitation on the number of applications an eligible applicant may submit per round of competition. Just note that the Equity fund is a competition and that all applications compete against each other.

Must a region be certified under the READI program in order for a community within that region to access OneGeorgia funds?
At this time, OneGeorgia funding and READI certification are not tied together. The Board, at its discretion, may consider tying the two together next fiscal year. To become more familiar with the READI program, visit www.georgiareadi.com.

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Deadlines

What are the application deadlines?
EDGE applications are being accepted now and will continue to be accepted on an ongoing basis. Equity awards will be made in three competitive cycles per year. Application deadlines are January 16, May 15 and September 14.

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