$1,000,000 in grants from the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) is being made available through a new four-state program dubbed the “Northern Heritage Economy Grant Program.”

The grants are offered to nonprofit organizations and municipalities undertaking locally driven historic preservation projects with strong community and economic revitalization potential. The grant is expected to be split evenly among the four states.

The Northern Heritage Economy Grant Program hopes to to focus its funding on the revitalization of vacant and underused historic buildings in rural communities with the goals of stimulating economic development and tourism, building community cohesion, and creating jobs in areas suffering from the decline of the forest products industry. Studies show that historic preservation is an effective strategy for supporting small business, creating local jobs, improving property values and catalyzing public/private investment.

In New York State grants can only be made in the following counties: Cayuga, Clinton, Essex, Fulton, Franklin, Genesee, Greene, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Livingston, Madison, Montgomery, Niagara, Oneida, Orleans, Oswego, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Schenectady, Seneca, Sullivan, Warren, Washington, Wayne, and Yates. All applicants must have the balance of their project funding in place and plan to have their project completed by July 2021. Eligibility criteria and grant guidelines will be available later this fall.

The funding for the program is provided by the Regional Forest Economy Partnership, a new initiative of NBRC that utilizes a regional approach in addressing the decline in forest-based economies.

More information is available on the grant webpage.