OneGeorgia - Program Changes

Program Changes

ONEGEORGIA: BRIDGING THE RURAL ECONOMIC DIVIDE

Targeted and strategic changes to the OneGeorgia Authority were unanimously approved at the Authority's regularly scheduled meeting held in Moultrie on Wednesday, September 8. These changes will further the Authority's effort to successfully meet our original goal and mission by "bridging the rural economic divide".

In order for Georgia to compete in a global economy, we can no longer afford to frame our economic development decisions solely on city or county borders. We must cooperate regionally by building partnership "bridges", supporting multi-county economic development projects that will translate into more jobs and new private investment in rural Georgia.

The approved changes include moving to a map that more clearly defines economically distressed rural counties in Georgia as eligible for financial assistance. The 4-Tier Job Tax Credit Map that has been used as the threshold for eligibility into OneGeorgia programs since the Authority began operations on October 1, 2000, was not developed for the objectives of OneGeorgia. For some rural counties, the tier system was a stumbling block for economic development because rural was never clearly defined.

Beginning January 01, 2005, OneGeorgia will recognize all 112 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." In addition, the 35 counties with a population of less than 500,000 that share a border with the 112 directly eligible rural counties are designated as conditionally eligible.

Conditionally eligible counties are recognized as having the opportunity to be important collaborative partners to these 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.

The 35 counties identified as "conditionally eligible" cannot singularly apply to OneGeorgia for assistance. A regional application must include at least one directly eligible rural county and can include a conditional county. The application must demonstrate quantifiable, sustainable and significant positive economic impact to the directly eligible rural county in terms of new private investment, job creation/retention, quality of jobs, benefits, etc., in order for it to receive sufficient points for funding consideration.

Other changes unanimously approved at Wednesday's board meeting included revisions to the successful and flexible Equity program to better meet the needs of rural Georgia. These changes include moving to an open application process rather than the 3 competitive rounds held annually beginning January 01, 2005. Many of rural Georgia's economically impoverished communities have limited staffs and expertise in the preparation of grant or loan applications. Moving to an open application process will allow OneGeorgia staff to provide guidance in determining if the proposed project will meet the overall objectives of the OneGeorgia Authority and technical expertise in scoring areas such as feasibility, strategy and economic impact. The Equity program scoring system was also revised to provide the greatest number of points to Georgia's most economically depressed counties.

The Governing Board of the OneGeorgia Authority also unanimously approved a budget of $10 million to create the Strategic Industries Loan Fund. While the state has been successful in the recruitment and expansion of traditional industries to many of the state's poorest rural communities with the EDGE fund, Georgia has identified a gap in providing financing for specialized technology-based economic development. By providing low-interest loans, the state can stimulate growth in these strategic industries in order to optimize opportunities for regional economic growth. The full industry list that this loan program will target will be released in early November.

These changes position the OneGeorgia Authority to continue as a catalyst for rural economic development. They offer rural Georgia a renewed hope for reemergence into the mainstream of the global economy by providing resources based upon economic need and demand, and they encourage regional partnerships to maximize our valuable but limited resources.