Excerpted from Statehouse Report:
APRIL 28, 2015 | The Obama Administration today announced six rural counties in the southern tip of South Carolina won a new federal Promise Zone designation in a program to give pervasively poor places a better chance at getting federal grants and other help.
The designation brings two key tools to the impoverished bottom of the state: a handful of trained federal workers to help counties apply for existing federal grants, and extra points for applications submitted in programs to improve education, grow jobs, boost safety and add affordable housing.
“The Promise Zone designation for our region creates exciting opportunities for our people,” said Danny Black, president and CEO of the SouthernCarolina Alliance. “As the lead regional organization in this effort, we look forward to working with our partners at the municipal, county, regional, state and federal levels, in both the public and private sectors, to identify, pursue and implement programs that will bring real economic development, community development and workforce training opportunities to our communities.”
Experts say having the Promise Zone designation should pay big dividends to the six counties because they often don’t have the human capital needed to be successful in tapping into federal grant dollars. In the only other rural Promise Zone area announced last year, the eastern area of Kentucky has been successful in winning more than $43 million of major grant funding.
