March 9, 2023
Applications for the Spring 2023 Golden LEAF SITE Program are due Thursday, March 16th at noon. If you have started an application, please make sure to have the application completed, including all required attachments, before noon on March 16th.
An informational webinar was held in January to explain the SITE Program. The webinar was recorded and is available by clicking here.
Golden LEAF has budgeted $15 million for the program this fiscal year which will be awarded in two rounds: Fall 2022 and Spring 2023. In December, the Golden LEAF Foundation Board of Directors awarded $5.8 million in funding for 10 SITE Program projects.
The SITE Program helps rural, economically distressed communities identify potential industrial sites for economic development, complete the due diligence necessary to prepare sites for industrial development, and extend public utilities to or conduct rough grading and clearing of sites for which due diligence has been completed.
Golden LEAF created the SITE Program with a three-phased approach:
- SITE Program – Identification support to identify potential industrial sites in communities that do not currently have quality industrial sites to market.
- SITE Program – Due diligence funding to complete eligible due diligence activities such as environmental assessments, archaeological analyses, and mapping.
- SITE Program – Development funding for public infrastructure and, for publicly owned sites, clearing and rough grading, to benefit sites that have completed the due diligence necessary to demonstrate that the site is suitable for development.
Golden LEAF intends for the SITE Program to complement other site readiness and site development programs existing in North Carolina and has coordinated its requirements with those other programs. Applicants will be able to begin the process at any of the three phases, and a site may progress from identification through to development over time.
All updates and details will be posted on our website under the SITE Program. For more information, visit www.goldenleaf.org/SITE.