Sidney awarded housing grant
The City of Sidney announced today it is the recipient of Rural Workforce Housing funding.
By News Channel NebraskaDepartment of Economic Development Announces Rural Workforce Housing Fund Recipients
LINCOLN, Neb. -- The Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED) announced Thursday the recipients of $22,825,000 in awards through the 2022 round of Nebraska’s Rural Workforce Housing Fund (RWHF).
Sidney was awarded $1 million for a housing project through RWHF. Authorized by the Rural Workforce Housing Investment Act of 2017, the RWHF helps communities create quality, affordable housing to accommodate growth. Funding also includes $200,000 from the Nebraska Community Foundation and $300,000 from the City of Sidney.
"Yesterday, the City was notified that we received a $1 million grant from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development for rural workforce housing. Over the next few months, we'll start making some decisions. We need to start to encourage businesses to move to Sidney and Cheyenne County area, and this will give their employees opportunities to find housing," said Jeff Klare, Sidney Director of Economic Development.
For the 2022 funding cycle, RWHF awards were available to eligible non-profit development organizations who supplied at least a 50 percent match (that is, 50 cents for every dollar of RWHF funds awarded). In many cases, local financial institutions and employers partnered with the primary applicant in providing the local match. Combined, today’s recipients contributed more than $12.1 million in matching funds.
DED administers the RWHF program on behalf of the State of Nebraska through a competitive application process. The department then partners with recipients to provide input regarding project design, development, and implementation.
“Growing rural Nebraska is a priority for our agency,” said DED Interim Director Joe Fox. “The RWHF supports job creation and helps attract residents to our rural communities through strategic investments in affordable, high-quality housing. We had an outstanding batch of applicants for this cycle of RWHF awards. Congratulations to the awardees!”
The awards were made possible by a general fund allocation authorized by the Nebraska Legislature in 2022.