| Landing Jobs $140 million over five years
Land for Tomorrow is proposing the creation of a new initiative called Landing Jobs to fund creation and retention of jobs and related economic and community development in ways that promote land conservation, historic preservation, parks and recreation, and related facilities and programs.
The mission is to help small businesses, nonprofits and local governments in North Carolina diversify and build economic sectors based upon sustainable use of natural and cultural resources.
Landing Jobs will help create, retain and sustain jobs and businesses through grants and loans that aid in development of the industries related to natural and cultural resource protection:
Grants would be awarded in two different categories: - Planning Grants to nonprofits and local governments to develop plans for supporting the creation and retention of jobs and businesses through sustainable use of their natural, historic, and cultural resources.
- Project Implementation Grants to small businesses, nonprofits and local governments to help communities, regions, and public-private partnerships implement their plans to build economic sectors based on their natural, agricultural, forestry, historic and cultural resources.
Land for Tomorrow recommends that Landing Jobs be administered as a special project of the NC Community Development Initiative (NCCDI), a highly-respected statewide nonprofit that already receives a portion of its funding through the NC Department of Commerce. The NCCDI Board of Directors would have final authority to approve recommendations about grants and loans made by an 11-member Landing Jobs Council.
Land for Tomorrow proposes that this new initiative be funded at the level of $30 million per year for five years.
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