Grant Opportunity!

[jsimons]

The Southeast Michigan RC&D Council is offering several new grant opportunities to help businesses, communities, institutions, and organizations to find value in removed urban trees. This funding is particularly targeted to areas where the emerald ash borer has caused significant damage to urban forests. Please see the Council's website for complete program description and application requirements.

The specific grant awards will be as follows:

- one grant (up to $30,000) to demonstrate how products made from locally-removed trees can benefit the general public (using wood chips to produce energy for local schools, creating lumber to use in city parks, or coordinating the use of local wood products in public buildings are just a few examples of potential projects);

- one grant (up to $20,000) to support the development of kiln-drying facilities for a business creating products from removed urban trees; and

- one grant (up to $5,000) to coordinate and execute a public exhibit of fine art/woodworking pieces made from removed urban trees.

For more information, please contact Jessica Simons at 734-761-6722 X 105.

[Jeff]

Jessica,  wouldn't something like the creation of a dedicated area of the Forestry Forum for Urban Forestry perhaps perhaps be eligible for some sort of grant? We have a venue here like no other that attracts and spreads a lot of information to a lot of contacts.

[Daren]

I have seen this thread for a few days and not responded, I agree with Jeff 100%. The discussions needs to include grant application as well as availability. My wife was sole owner of a L.L.C. that was a female/minority small business that provided service to low income urban developement, senior housing and rural school districts. We did not benifit from ONE grant, goverment insured loan... but we did have several grant writers offer to (for a fee) apply for the grants for us, no guaranty we would get one of course.
As an urban logger myself, a little help would be nice, why not. I contacted the Illinois DNR, Ag. Dept... nada. I would like to see a discussion opened up here.

[Dana]

Daren, I would be interested in applying for the grant for the kiln. I didn't contact the grantors however I bet the grants will stay close to their locale.(South East Michigan) I am 250 mile North of there in Charlevoix. :( At least someone is being generous enough and has intelligence to realize that a lot of good wood is going to the landfil and is doing something to make governments aware of the loss. I get a lot of good salvageable logs from local cities and the county road commision. If I don't get to them they are simply pushed into a pile and buried. :(

[Daren]

Dana, I think I am jaded and sure I am ingnorant about the whole grant process that is why I would like to have this discussion with some who knows and can prove me wrong and help us all. I have done a little research on grants, and like I said when I started Nelson Company L.L.C. in 2001 my wife was the owner solely for that reason. We were home improvement/facility maintanance and there where TONS of grants, but for one reason or another we did not qualify. That is my only experience. I decided it was just easier to do it by ourselves, I have never wanted a handout. But as a business man I had to look at from the angle that my competition may be... if they are getting help to compete against me, I wanted a fair shake.
I do have one (totally true) story that is log related I thought was funny. I called a contact I had at the Illinois Dept. of Ag. asking about some timber I had and she knew I was doing the sawmill thing. She said she could get me a grant (if I remeber correctly for $10k) to take the hardwood logs I would normally saw and innoculate them with edible mushroom spores and put them in the shade of my timber. The grant was for alternative food crop promotion or something like that. I even thought about it for awhile, but there was some red tape I wasn't crazy about.

I get a lot deal of good salavageable logs from local citys and the county road commision. If I don't get to them they are simply pushed into a pile and buried. :(

Me too, or they get hauled out in the country to our sewer treatment plant and set ablaze, what a waste. Luckily around here they help the urban logger at the city/township level... they hire lazy guys and it is easier to bring them to my place than haul them out there and unload them.  :D

[jsimons]

Thanks for the e-mail, Jeff... I get busy working on other things and often forget to check back on my posts!  A little nudge is always appreciated. 

Yes, I think that an urban forestry section of Forestry Forum would be a great idea.  (To be honest, it's something I've been meaning to chat with you about anyway.)  That's exactly why we put these grants out... people have such different skills and resources that it's always interesting to see how they tackle a problem with a unique perspective.  Most of the folks that we've heard from already have more on-the-ground ideas for their proposals, but I think that your plan for a strong "virtual" communications space is certainly appropriate for our grant program.  I'd definitely encourage you to apply.  If you'd like to chat about it more in depth, you're also welcome to give me a call.

Dana, you're definitely eligible to apply for the kiln funding.  Anyone is able to apply, although you are right that we hope to keep the funding closer to the SE Michigan area, if possible.  First and foremost, we will fund the best proposals -- ones that have the most potential of serving as good demonstrations for using urban trees.  Location is more of a "tiebreaker" sort of condition... all other things being equal, we'd go with the project closer to home.

Daren, I understand your hesitation to jump into grant programs.  Sometimes, I feel that it can be easy for small business owners can be seduced by free funds... you start out with a strong plan for your business, but then end up taking it down some wacky, specific road because there is funding available.  But, I'm glad to hear that your family's has done such a great job of sticking true to your goals and doing it on your own.  However, with that said, I think that you shouldn't be afraid to pursue grants IF they meet the goals that you have for your business anyway. 

We don't look at our grant opportunities as handouts... they function more as incentives to help experienced businesses and groups to take the next step toward an important goal.  In our case, we realize that most urban wood utilization takes place within small businesses.  Small business owners often have the expertise and dedication to run a successful operation, but lack the initial capital investment to make it all happen.  We certainly aren't offering enough money to do it all, but we can help give a boost to make the process happen a little more quickly.  And time is of the essence for us right now... as SE Michigan is flooded with ash logs, we need to find ways to process them effectively immediately. 

Our grants have very open eligibility, as I just explained to Dana.  Basically, anyone is eligible to apply.  I hope this sparks your interest a bit.  I'd love to hear more about your ideas!  If you have specific questions or concerns about the application process, feel free to let me know either here or by giving me a call.