SOMERSET – Officials with the Center For Rural Development in Somerset recently announced $145,000 in mini-grant funds from the Appalachian Regional Commission, and Floyd County is eligible to apply for the funding.

According to information provided by the Center For Rural Development, two cycles of mini-grants will be awarded in 2010 for either the successful creation of a strategic plan or the implementation of priority community development projects identified in existing strategic plans. The application period for the first cycle of funding will be open through Jan. 4, and grants are expected to be awarded in February.

The individual project awards will range from $5,000 up to a maximum of $10,000 and all projects must be completed within a six-month period.

In 2008, $170,000 in federally funded Appalachian Regional Commission mini-grants were awarded to 13 counties and cities in southern and eastern Kentucky to help advance local economic and community development plans.

“Stimulating innovative and sustainable economic development solutions in the region we serve is at the core of The Center’s mission, and these grants target communities that have the ideas, but lack the resources, to move them forward,” Lonnie Lawson, president and CEO of the Center For Rural Development. “The grants awarded during the last funding cycle in 2008 made a significant impact on each of the counties and cities that received them, and served to underscore the critical importance of strategic thinking and planning regardless of the size of the community. We fully expect this new funding will build on that beginning and impact our region to a much greater extent.”

Recipients in 2008 included the cities of Inez, Corbin, Beattyville, Liberty, Mt. Vernon and Paintsville; and McCreary, Bell, Morgan, Lee and Letcher counties. Bell County and the city of Corbin received funding support in both funding cycles.