Howland Community News
The Mahoning River Corrider Redevelopment Project was the winner last fall of the first round of grants made available through the Fund for Our Economic Future.
The organization recently announced a second round of grants available for collaborative local government projects. The Fund for Our Economic Future is a a philanthropic collaboration of organizations and individuals that uses grantmaking, research and civic engagement to strengthen the 16-county region's economic competitiveness. Through its award and civic engagement program, EfficientGovNow, the organization is offering a $330,000 incentive.
"Round one of EfficientGovNow told us loud and clear that the opportunity for collaboration and cooperation is everywhere, the payoff is big and the public wants it to happen," said Brad Whitehead, president, Fund for Our Economic Future.
Introduced in 2009, the inaugural EfficientGovNow program attracted proposals on a wide array of collaborative projects from more than 255 local government entities from across the region. Collectively these projects projected one-time savings of nearly $40 million and anticipated annual savings of more than $22 million. After public review of the proposed projects, nearly 13,500 Northeast Ohioans spoke out and voted in support of these ideas.
The winning projects of the first round of the EfficientGovNow competition were:
l Rollin' on the River: Mahoning River Corridor Redevelopment Project ($57,451);
l Westshore Regional Fire District Project, covering Cuyahoga and Lorain counties ($100,000);
l Mahoning-Youngstown Regional Information System ($120,000).
The second round of EfficientGovNow kicks off with an invitation to all local government officials to apply for an EfficientGovNow award. To be considered, proposals must involve two or more governmental entities, demonstrate the potential to be replicated and demonstrate how the cost "savings" will be used to strengthen economic competitiveness, among other criteria.
Project partners have until Feb. 26 to submit a project idea, described in a 250-word abstract, for review. All information and materials needed to participate, are available at www.EfficientGovNow.org.
Completed proposals must be submitted by April 19 to be considered. Once submitted, the abstracts and full proposals will be posted for public review and comment.
After reviewing all qualified proposals, the Fund will announce the round two finalists on April 30 and public voting will take place beginning May 1 through May 31. The fund will announce the award recipients in early June.