Cumberland County Awarded Three-Star Innovation Grant
NASHVILLE - Gov. Phil Bredesen and Economic and Community Development Commissioner Matt Kisber today awarded Cumberland County a $15,000 Three-Star Innovation Grant to fund the creation of a business incubator.
"This grant program offers communities an opportunity to improve their quality-of-life, grow jobs and attract new industry," said Gov. Bredesen. "I applaud the leaders of Cumberland County for taking advantage of the Three-Star Innovation Grant to improve their community."
The Three-Star Innovation Grant is a competitive, matching grant program that encourages communities to develop new and innovative projects to enhance their overall community. One grant was awarded in small, medium and large population categories, with the local match based on population. Cumberland County was awarded the medium population category grant and will provide a 25 percent local match. ECD awarded the small population category grant to Hohenwald/Lewis County and the large population grant category to Hamilton County.
"This grant will improve Cumberland County's business environment, where companies can grow and succeed," said Sen. Charlotte Burks. "I commend the county's Three-Star leaders for recognizing the importance of this project and making the necessary plans to secure funding."
"This funding support will be a great benefit to Cumberland County and provide much needed improvements to grow jobs in the community," said Rep. Eric Swafford.
The business incubator will help facilitate economic opportunities and assist new and existing businesses and organizations throughout the Cumberland Plateau. The incubator will be housed at Roane State Community College in Crossville, Tenn., and will focus on three areas: agriculture and biofuels; transportation and distribution; and ceramics, materials and medical applications.
Partners for this project include the Upper Cumberland Development District, the city of Crossville, Cumberland County, Roane State Community College, Tennessee Technological University, the University of Tennessee Plateau Research and Education Center, the Tennessee Technological Center, the Cumberland County School System and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
"ECD recognizes community development is the first step to successful economic development and we are pleased to offer financial resources to Cumberland County," said Kisber.
Three-Star is a value-added program for Tennessee communities and places emphasis on a number of important community development steps, including strategic planning, identifying educational resources and making routine existing industry visits. Three-Star communities are eligible for several other grant programs including, the Small Business Energy Loan Program and the Local Government Energy Efficiency Loan Program.
Last year, 87 Tennessee community programs received Three-Star certification. The department's goal is to have all 95 counties in the state involved in the program. For more information about Three-Star, visit http://state.tn.us/ecd/3star.htm.
