Golden LEAF recognizes that rural and economically distressed communities must have sites available for development to attract new businesses and create opportunities for existing businesses to expand. To address this need, Golden LEAF created the SITE Program. Through this program, Golden LEAF will provide support to communities to identify potential sites for economic development, enable completion of due diligence on sites already identified, or extend public utilities to or conduct grading and clearing of sites for which due diligence has been completed. Golden LEAF will accept applications from organizations in all counties, but will prioritize awards within counties that have been persistently economically distressed (as demonstrated by County Tier status determined by the N.C. Department of Commerce) and in economically distressed, rural, and tobacco-dependent communities.
The SITE Program consists of the three phases described below. Communities 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.
If you’re not sure which phase is right for your project, we have a few questions to help guide you.
Golden LEAF intends for the SITE Program to complement other site readiness and site development programs existing in North Carolina and has coordinated its program requirements with those other programs. See the SITE Program Resources page for information on other site readiness programs.
Golden LEAF budgeted $15 million for the program this fiscal year to be awarded in two rounds: Fall 2022 and Spring 2023. Golden LEAF expects two rounds of funding for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023 and will announce the amount available in advance of the opening of the Fall 2023 application window.
Resources
Available resources will be updated periodically. Information posted is current as of January 17, 2023.
Available resources include:
Application Deadline
Applications for the Spring 2023 round are closed. The application window for the Fall 2023 round will open in July and close in September.
Which phase is right for my project?
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