Requests to the Commission’s Special Projects program should support either Regional Economic Development projects, or projects that Expand Access to Healthcare for residents of a multi-locality service area.
Regional Economic Development
Eligibility for the Special Projects program requires the active participation of at least three localities (defined as a significant role in the financing and governance of a project). Projects that serve the greater tobacco region generally receive higher funding priority. The primary outcome measures for regional economic development projects are the numbers of net new jobs directly created, the amount of net new taxable private capital investment, and (in the case of regional tourism projects) the net new revenues created for tobacco region localities and entities.
Expanding Access to Healthcare
The Commission’s Strategic Plan also designates the Special Projects program as the venue for considering proposals that expand access to healthcare in the tobacco region, however these projects will fall below other economic development projects in scoring priority. The Special Projects Committee stated that, within the healthcare category, its priority for proposals to deliver expanded healthcare services will be for telemedicine projects. Requests for operating funds should not exceed three years of funding and should demonstrate declining support from TRRC funds in years two and three concurrent with increasing support from other non-TRRC funding sources. As with all TRRC programs, applications that will benefit a private for-profit healthcare organization MUST be submitted by an eligible applicant entity (e.g. government or IRS-designated non-profit). The primary outcome measure for healthcare projects will be the net new number of patients served (stated as an increase over current baseline number(s) of patients treated, and as a percentage of the population of the defined service area). Projects that serve the greater tobacco region will receive higher funding consideration.
Megasites
The Special Projects Committee is also charged with recommending funding for the Commission’s Megasite Program, which provides funding for site development at large publicly-owned industrial properties that are intended to attract major employment and investment projects such as original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Megasite funding is only available for the eight sites that have been developed to date with Commission support.
Application Deadline
October 17, 2019 – Please see the FY20 Program Guidelines in the link on the right.
FY20 Special Projects Pending Applications
FY20 Staff Summaries & Recommendations
Other Programs
Tobacco Region Opportunity Fund