Page 24 - Demo

24 | Page December 2 0 I ssueCommerce Launches New Quality of Place Grant for Rural RevitalizationLieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland announced the launch of the new Towns grant program. This program is an initiative designed to spur quality-of-place improvements in rural Kansas communities that have received no funding from the Kansas Department of Commerce in the past three years. This new opportunity will have $100,000 available for its first round of funding.The program provides grants that range from $1,000 to $10,000 to support small-scaled projects that will deliver meaningful results in rural communities, with a focus on increasing local capacity, fostering community and youth engagement, and mobilizing volunteers and local investment.Eligible applicants must represent a community with a population of 5,000 or less and that has received no Commerce funding in the preceding three years.%u201cApplicants must demonstrate investment in the projects by providing a minimum match of 10%, which can come in-kind for communities with populations under 1,000. The matching funds must come from a private source or non-state funded grants.