Hyde County to receive $2.08 million from Golden LEAF

February 12, 2020 | Local News | By: Connie Leinbach

The Ocracoke Seafood Company, seen here Sept. 8, is among five island projects that will receive grants from the Golden LEAF Foundation for Hurricane Dorian damage. Photo: C. Leinbach.

Hyde County will receive $2.08 million in grant money from the Golden LEAF Foundation for Hurricane Dorian repairs.

The awards are part of a total $2.975 million for disaster recovery and two job creation projects that the Golden LEAF board approved at their meeting last week. All together, these projects will assist five counties recovering from hurricane damage and help create 155 jobs.

The following Hurricane Dorian-damaged properties on Ocracoke received funding:

$500,000 to Hyde County to construct a new EMS station on Ocracoke. The temporary station on Back Road was flooded by Hurricane Dorian.
$125,000 to Hyde County to replace the trams used to support the passenger ferry. The trams were destroyed by floodwaters.
$900,000 to the Hyde County Schools to support the repair and elevation of several buildings at the Ocracoke School campus.
$278,000 to the Ocracoke Foundation (Hyde County) to support the replacement of the main dock in the Community Square.
$277,400 to the Ocracoke Foundation (Hyde County) to support repair of the Ocracoke Seafood Company building.

Hyde County Manager Kris Noble noted that Golden LEAF has always been a friend to Hyde County.

“I am beyond humbled by these generous awards to aid in Ocracoke’s recovery,” she said. “These grant funds, combined with other state and foundational funds and coupled with the strength of the community and love from our neighbors will rebuild a stronger, more resilient Ocracoke.”

Projects on Bald Head Island, Swansboro and Pender County received grants to support repair from Hurricane Florence (2018) and a project in Beaufort County received support to repair infrastructure from damage by Hurricane Matthew (2016).

“Golden LEAF is dedicated to the long-term economic advancement of North Carolina,” said Scott T. Hamilton, Golden LEAF president and chief executive officer. “Our board and staff work hard to get funding out the door and at work in the communities we serve.”

Over two decades, the foundation has funded 1,814 projects totaling $890 million. Golden LEAF’s 15-member board of directors is appointed by the governor, the president pro tempore of the senate, and the speaker of the house.

The Golden LEAF board of directors approved the following Disaster Recovery Grant Program projects:

The Disaster Recovery Grant Program is funded through appropriations by the State of North Carolina to the Golden LEAF Foundation to make grants to governmental entities and 501(c)(3) nonprofits to repair or replace infrastructure and equipment damaged or destroyed by Hurricanes Matthew, Florence, Michael and Dorian.

The board also approved job creation projects in Catawba and Watauga counties.

Golden LEAF’s Economic Catalyst Program assists eligible state, regional and local economic development entities with grants to support permissible activities in projects in which a company will commit to create a specific number of full-time jobs in a tobacco-dependent or economically distressed area.

Golden LEAF’s Open Grants Program is for economic development projects in the areas of economic investment and job creation, workforce preparedness and education, agriculture, and community vitality. Grant awards do not exceed $200,000 under the Open Grants Program.

The foundation currently has a special initiative available to help connect dislocated workers to jobs to address urgent workforce needs. Applications for this initiative are due by noon on March 6. For more information about the Golden LEAF Opportunities for Work (GLOW).

Golden LEAF is a nonprofit organization established in 1999 to receive a portion of North Carolina’s funding received from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement with cigarette manufacturers. For 20 years, Golden LEAF has worked to increase economic opportunity in North Carolina’s rural and tobacco-dependent communities through leadership in grant making, collaboration, innovation, and stewardship as an independent and perpetual foundation.

The foundation has provided lasting impact to tobacco-dependent, economically distressed and rural areas of the state by helping create 64,000 jobs, over half a billion dollars in new payrolls and more than 77,000 workers trained or retrained for higher wages.

For details about grants, grant awards, workforce initiatives and more visit goldenleaf.org.