Good News From Florida’s CRAs

WINTER GARDEN, Fla. — The City of Winter Garden has launched a Love Local campaign to build awareness of the importance of supporting the local business community as well as providing programs and activities to help small businesses recover from financial losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Love Local campaign includes a number of…

SEBRING — The Sebring Community Redevelopment Agency will be taking the final step today to set into motion a six month project to update the CRA’s Master Plan. At its meeting at 5:30 p.m. today the CRA Board will consider approving a $107,270 contract with S&ME, Inc., which will develop the updated Master Plan. The…

As a result of the declared emergency due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Ruth Clavell received from the City of Homestead and the Homestead Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) a grant established to help small businesses, which, like hers, had to close when the pandemic started and the city decided to go on lockdown in March. The…

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) are co-hosting a webinar on supporting small business and economic development in rural Florida. The webinar will showcase rural small business, economic development and redevelopment resources; highlight the needs in state-designated rural areas; and explore government programs that provide…

n Monday, Florida Department of Management Services (DMS) Sec. Jonathan Satter announced almost $860,000 in grant awards to Citrus, Franklin, Gulf, Jackson, Sumter, Walton, and Washington Counties through the E911 State Grant Program. Since January, DMS has awarded more than $6 million in funds to Florida counties to modernize Florida’s public safety communications systems. “The E911 State Grant…

TAMPA – For years, Tampa city officials have struggled to find a way to keep pedestrians safe as its downtown core draws more people. It’s a conundrum that’s consistently landed Tampa near the top of national rankings among the deadliest cities for pedestrians and bicyclists. But Tampa artist Meaghan Farrell Scalise and the Tampa Downtown…

The City of Homestead and the Homestead Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) have launched three programs designed to help residents and businesses that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The City of Homestead CDBG Rent & Utilities Assistance Grant Program (the “Program”) is designed to provide residents who reside within the incorporated City of Homestead…

A bill making its way through City Council seeks to boost historic redevelopment in the North Core and throughout Downtown. Two Council committees are scheduled next week to debate Ordinance 2020-0527 expanding city programs that offer incentives for the renovation and redevelopment of historic properties and old Downtown properties. The Downtown Investment Authority board approved…

POMPANO BEACH, Fla.) — NEWS: Pompano Beach residents are encouraged to attend a special presentation about the McNab House & Botanical Gardens during a virtual Pompano Beach CRA meeting on Tuesday, September 15, 2020 at 1 p.m. The presentation will introduce Randy Hollingworth, Director of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Urban Design from the award-winning, international…

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) is reminding communities that the deadline to submit applications to the Rebuild Florida Mitigation General Infrastructure Program is 5:00 p.m. (EST) on Monday, September 14, 2020. The Rebuild Florida Mitigation General Infrastructure Program is designed to provide funding opportunities for counties, municipalities and state agencies to develop large-scale…

The National League of Cities has highlighted ways that municipalities can lift up the awareness of the CARES Act funding for black communities and overall, but the data shows more work needs to be done. Are your residents among the estimated twelve million people in the United States who did not receive their stimulus monies? According to the…

Mayors from across the country are calling on Congress and the White House to return to the negotiating table and deliver critical aid to local governments in the next COVID-19 relief package. While Congress is in recess, mayors from cities large and small are continuing to confront unprecedented budget crunches due to revenue shortfalls and…

In case you missed it, EPA’s Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization sponsored a webinar on Resource Roadmapping for Revitalization: Tools for Leveraging Funding & Other Resources for Brownfields & Land Revitalization on July 21. This webinar for EPA brownfield grantees and local community leaders presented on the “resource roadmapping” approach that can be used…

2021 Request for Applications Application Due Date: Wednesday, October 28, 2020 by 11:59 PM Eastern Time EPA’s Brownfields Program provides funds to empower states, communities, tribes, and nonprofit organizations to prevent, inventory, assess, clean up, and reuse brownfield sites. A brownfield site is defined as real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may…

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida League of Cities, the united voice for Florida’s municipal governments, yesterday announced the election of its officers for the 2020-2021 term. The officers were elected and installed during the association’s annual business meeting held virtually this afternoon. City of Orlando Commissioner Antonio “Tony” Ortiz was elected president of the Florida League of Cities,…

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Monday that the Florida legislature will fund $10 million toward hundreds of families to rebuild or purchase homes in the Panhandle following the disaster of 2018′s Category 5 Hurricane Michael. The Florida Housing Finance Corporation will relaunch, for the second year, its Hurricane Michael recovery loan program. The program is to…

Delray Beach is considering a variety of changes to help give a boost to businesses recently hurt by the pandemic. This includes using more outdoor space to support local businesses to expand their services. In response to the state of emergency from the coronavirus, the city worked with the Community Redevelopment Agency, the chamber of…

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson toured some of Fort Myers’ lower-income communities Wednesday to tout a program meant to revitalize neighborhoods. The Opportunity Zone incentive was created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and is meant to provide tax incentives for projects in low-income communities that have traditionally been underdeveloped. There…

At the end of last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced $280,000 has been awarded to eight small and rural communities through the Competitive Florida Partnership grant program administered by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO). The Competitive Florida program establishes a partnership between the community and DEO to create a strategic vision to advance their economic development needs while…

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (WMBB) — Panama City Beach’s CRA Advisory Committee want to bring new improvements to the area and on an accelerated timeline. The committee held their meeting Monday afternoon and discussed multiple potential projects some of which included smart lighting for the city, better wayfinding, and placing fencing in medians in high…