Golden LEAF recognizes that rural and economically distressed communities must have industrial sites and shell buildings available for development to attract new businesses and create opportunities for existing businesses to expand.
Please check out the summary table of major Golden LEAF program differences below and click the header to be linked to each program page. Be sure to reach out to Golden LEAF staff to discuss your project and which program would be the best fit prior to starting an application. In some cases, a project may fit in multiple programs.
| Open Grants Program | Economic Catalyst | SITE Program |
Key Characteristics | Smaller awards, open year-round, fewer technical requirements than the SITE Program | Larger awards, amounts tied to job creation commitments, proposals usually coordinated with NC Department of Commerce, EDPNC, and local economic development groups. | Site identification, due diligence, infrastructure, and shell buildings; larger grants for infrastructure and shell buildings |
Application Cycle | Open year-round, two-stage process | Open year round; single-stage application process | Open year round; single-stage application process |
Maximum Award | $500,000 | No formal limit set; see program page for details | For due diligence, typically $50,000 or below, but up to $200,000; up to $1.5M for development; up to $2.5M for shell building |
Required job creation commitment from a company | No | Yes | No |
Use of funds | Public infrastructure; clearing and grading (publicly owned sites only) | Public infrastructure; clearing and grading (publicly owned sites only) | Site identification; due diligence; public infrastructure (publicly owned or controlled sites); clearing and grading (publicly owned sites only); shell building construction (publicly owned sites only) |
