Equity Fund

Tab Group

Basic Info

The purpose of the Equity Fund is to provide a program of financial assistance that includes grants, loans and any other forms of assistance authorized by (O.C.G.A.50-34-1 et seq.) to finance activities that will assist applicants in promoting the health, welfare, safety, and economic security of the citizens of the state through the development and retention of employment opportunities in areas of greater need as defined by the Georgia Business Expansion and Support Act of 1994, as amended (O.C.G.A.48-7-40).

Eligible Applicants

Eligible recipients of grant and loan funds include general-purpose local governments (municipalities and counties), local government authorities and joint or multi-county development authorities in rural counties suffering from high poverty rates. Subrecipients should be a for-profit entity. Financial underwriting of a sub-recipient company is required. All applicants are urged to consider using Equity Fund monies only when other funding is not available or not sufficient to address project needs. OneGeorgia Equity should be viewed as funding of last resort when no other public or private funding is available.  Click for the official eligibility map.

Grant and Loan Amounts

Award limits are a maximum request amount of $500,000 per project.

Eligible Use

Projects relating to water and sewer infrastructure, road, rail and airport improvements, industrial parks, workforce, technology, and tourism.

Grants

Funds for public activities require local investment and must demonstrate potential return on investment impact.

Loan Terms

Funds for business growth are made at 3% interest at 5-7 years for Machinery and Equipment and 20 years for Real Estate. Loan funds for speculative buildings are made at zero percent interest with a five year deferment; however, a marketing plan and local investment are required.

Applications

Online Applications are accepted quarterly on the 2nd Friday of the following months:  January, April, July, and October

Documents

FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Equity funds be used for grant preparation and management?

No. If consultants or grant writers were employed to write and/or manage Equity grants, we would expect the applicant to provide the funds outside the actual grant award as part of its contribution/match to the project. There may be rare instances, however, when overwhelming justification and documentation submitted by the applicant might be sufficient to justify granting an exception. Please note that engineering, architectural and inspection costs are considered to be part of construction costs, and as such, are clearly eligible.

Can Equity funds be used to capitalize revolving loan funds?

No, the capitalization of local or regional revolving loan funds is not eligible. The Authority itself will have a revolving loan fund, and repaid loan money will be used to fund additional community and economic development projects.

Can Equity money be used to fund salaries?

Equity Funds are not intended to fund what should be routine, on-going community and economic development efforts at the local or regional level, such as the staffing of various development authority offices. One time technical assistance efforts, on the other hand, are eligible and may be competitive if well justified, and if the application demonstrates the local commitment to use the results of the technical assistance and fully implement its recommendations.

Can multi-year commitments be made under the Equity fund?

It is highly likely that most projects will take longer than one year to implement, and if funded, the award from the OneGeorgia Authority may be carried forward for longer than a one-year period. On the other hand, certain projects may be too large and/or complex as to need to be implemented in phases. In such cases, the OneGeorgia Authority's commitment will be only for one phase at a time. That will not prevent the applicant from submitting subsequent applications for the latter phases but a commitment of funding for one phase will not bind the Authority to automatically funding subsequent phases.

If an applicant is not successful in an Equity application, can they compete again?

Absolutely. We hope that applicants will definitely apply again if they are not successful the first time. Counseling will be provided to help determine how the project can be made more competitive.

What are examples of eligible uses of Equity Funds?

Projects relating to water and sewer infrastructure, road, rail and airport improvements, industrial parks, workforce, technology, and tourism.