State Grant Program For For-Profit Businesses

Just to dispel those rumors that there are no grant programs for for-profit businesses.....

State grant funds are available to help manufacturers improve performance, stimulate growth and respond to new challenges as the economy recovers from the recession.

This grants program is targeted to small and mid-size manufacturers with less than 500 employees. Grants of $5,000 to $6,500 pay up to 50 percent of project costs. The remaining project costs are paid by the company.

Eligible projects are:

• Lean transformation: Up to $5,000 per company is available for projects which include a comprehensive assessment of a company’s operations, identification of key competitive priorities and an action plan to achieve them. This approach hopes to improve performance across all facets of the business enterprise and generates significant financial results.
  
  
• Grants up to $6,500 per company are available for small to mid-sized manufacturers to implement Eureka! Winning Ways, a nationally recognized and proven system that accelerates growth and generates ideas for new products and services.

A significant share of the funding already has been pledged for projects. Grantsare offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Project completion deadline is

Dec. 31, 2010.

Interested manufacturers can call using either the toll-free phone number or the local phone number.

Teachers Using Grant Money To Help Pay For School Projects More and more teachers are seeking grants from the educational foundations. For instance in one area the number of teachers who applied for a $1,200 grant is up about 30 percent, from 140 to 180. Teachers want the money to buy books, microscopes, education software, iPods and other classroom teaching aids that just can not be covered in the regular budget. One teacher spent about 60 hours last summer writing three grant proposals to start a fish farm and hydroponics garden in her classroom and learned how tough it is to get grants. She got two out of three grants that she applied for. One of the grant awards that she got was for $4,500 which allowed her to bring her classroom lessons to life for her students.

Grant Money Available

For Hurricane Katrina

HomeOwners!

There is still grant money available for homeowners.

State Offers Hundreds of Millions to Further Strengthen Homes Against Future Storm Damage!

Grant program offering up to $7,500 for Homeowner Applicants to Install Additional Safety Measures!

Thousands of Louisiana homeowners affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita can now apply for grant funds of up to $7,500 to take small-scale measures to protect their homes from loss in future storms, including installing roof-tie downs and storm shutters.

In the aftermath of the great damage caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, preventing future home damage and loss is one of Louisiana's top priorities, which is why grants are being offered to homeowner to help them to pay to install common sense protection like storm shutters.

According to one spokesperson there is already more than $800 Million Dollars available to help residents with their homes. The individual grants of up to $7,500 will help make homes even safer and stronger than they are now.

This grant program is being provided by FEMA. Beginning last month the state mailed forms to more than 100,000 applicants who selected to rebuild or repair their homes, requesting that they opt-in to program by March 10, 2010. Homeowners can also use this form to choose to participate in a program that offers eligible homeowners up to $100,000 to elevate their homes.
Homeowners will work with the program in order to receive funding.

Homeowners who need more information about this program should call this toll free number.

Because of FEMA regulations surrounding how these funds can be used and because these funds are offered as a reimbursement, homeowners should not install or start work on their homes until speaking with a representative from the program and to make sure that their home has been cleared by the program.

Homeowners who already completed repairs that they think are eligible for reimbursement should collect copies of receipts and invoices for the work, which will be necessary to move forward with the program.

The state will base individual grant awards on the type measure a homeowner takes. Because of federal law, the state also must ensure that it is paying homeowners for actual unmet needs and not duplicating a benefit already provided for the same purpose.

What qualifies as an acceptable measure?

Acceptable measures are small scale improvements homeowners can make to their properties to protect their investments in the event of future storms. Some examples of eligible work include:

• Strengthening doors
  
  
• Protecting windows, including by installing storm shutters
  
  
• Bolting roofs to walls and walls to foundations
  
  
• Elevating electrical panels or air conditioning units
  
  
• Raising washers, dryers, hot water heaters or furnaces
  
  
• Anchoring propane tanks or heating fuel tanks

Official representatives of the grant program can provide homeowners with more detailed information about eligible activities.

DEADLINES - Homeowners must notify the state of their interest in the program by March 10, 2010. To show interest, homeowners must return their forms to the state postmarked by March 10, 2010.

Homeowners who need information can call the program's hotline or contact the program by e-mail. Information is also available online at their website.