The Tobacco Trust Fund Commission announces its 2008 grant cycle

Submitted by Karen on Wed, 2008-06-11 08:29.

The Tobacco Trust Fund Commission is pleased to announce that grant applications are now being accepted for the 2008 grant cycle. Please note that completed applications (one original plus four copies) are to be postmarked no later than Friday, August 1, 2008. The Commission expects to announce its awards by the end of October.

The Tobacco Trust Fund Commission was created by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2000 to assist tobacco growers, former allotment holders, individuals displaced from tobacco-related employment, and persons engaged in tobacco-related businesses with economic losses resulting from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement between the Attorneys General and the major cigarette manufacturers.

During the 2008 cycle, the Commission will consider applications for: 1) Projects that indirectly compensate groups that demonstrate economic losses due to the MSA resulting in benefits to the state as well as to the affected groups; and 2) Qualified Agricultural Programs (QAP) that enhance the vitality of the tobacco-related section of the agricultural economy. The Tobacco Trust Fund Commission will give priority to projects based on size of area and number of people impacted. The Tobacco Trust Fund Commission has established the following funding priorities for this grant cycle.

  • Community Economic Development
  • Skill and Resource Development
  • Diversification Initiatives
  • Natural Resource and Farmland Preservation
  • Increasing Farm Profitability

More information about this year's TTF grant cycle can be found at:
http://www.tobaccotrustfund.org/grants/index.htm