Tennessee Grant Opportunity Fund (GO Fund)

Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD)

Applications accepted on an ongoing basis

Brooxie.Carlton@tn.gov

Rachel.Powers@tn.gov

The Tennessee Grant Opportunity Fund (GO Fund) offers a matching grant that provides rural Tennessee communities with a source of capital to help them meet the local match requirements of larger grant programs.

The program allows communities to unlock significant federal or state funding that would otherwise be inaccessible due to a lack of available local resources. Applicants must apply for match consideration prior to submission of the actual grant application. If approved, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) will provide a letter of support stating the availability of match funds if the community application is ultimately funded by the applicable state or federal entity. If the application is successful, TNECD will then make an official award from the state match GO Fund program and move to the grant contracting phase.

Eligibility requirements:

• Must be classified in the last fiscal year as economically distressed or at-risk according to the TNECD Map of distressed counties
• Must be requesting over $350,000 in funding and be able to demonstrate a need for state matching funds
• Must be applying to approved grant programs which include:
  • United States Economic Development Agency (EDA)
  • United Stated Department of Agriculture (USDA)
  • Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC)
  • Tennessee Historic Commission (THC)
  • Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT)
  • Tennessee Department of Tourist Development (TDTD)
  • Tennessee Department of Health (TDH)
  • Other agencies as approved

Tennessee

Amounts vary based on need.

Applicants must be requesting over $350,000 in funding and be able to demonstrate a need for state matching funds.

Complete the form on the application tab of the program website.

In addition to matching funds, TNECD Community and Rural Development staff will also provide general letters of support for approved applications to state and federal grant programs. These letters will not provide funding commitments, but can provide in-kind support, depending on the specific request, as well as other non-funding-related support. Each request for a letter of support will be evaluated for approval by the team. Request for letters of support should be emailed to Rachel.Powers@tn.gov.

Grants and Contracts

Capital funding · Community and economic development · Fundraising · Grant writing · Tennessee