CDC Needs FundsThe Community Development Corporation (CDC) doors are open to start collecting donor money to make a better Speedway by giving out grants and loans. “The CDC can start accepting donations now since receiving the employment identification number,” Barnes & Thornburg Attorney Nandita “Toma” Shepherd said. “I don’t know who would donate. Most people don’t know what we are. People need to understand what we are specifically about,” CDC Board of Director Tom Fansler said. The board members spent the most part of the 50 minute February 7th meeting hashing out the details to the mission statement and programs. Shepherd recommended the CDC examine grant applications twice a year. The applicant is to initially submit a two-page letter explaining who they are. If the CDC accepts the letter, then the applicant is required to fill out a detailed grant application accompanied with a business plan and financial statements. This does not mean the applicant would automatically receive the grant. It serves more as documentation that the grant money is going to a competent entity to carry out a plan to benefit Speedway. CDC plans to offer three programs: economic development, community development and a facade program. Profit and non-profit entities can apply for these programs’ loans or grants. Shepherd indicated the CDC would primarily work with community development to enhance Speedway and let the Speedway Redevelopment Commission focus on economic development. “Businesses are wrong if they think they are coming to you (CDC) to get money. There has to be a reason why,” Shepherd said. The programs need to reflect the IRS’s strict guidelines for CDCs to administer grant money to for-profit businesses. The IRS rulings also require language to support minority owned businesses. Town Manager John McCurtain said ethnicity should not be a factor. “Why the accent on this? Personally I don’t care what a person’s ethnicity is when reviewing the grant application,” he said. He was interested in approving grants or loans to qualified applicants that would improve Speedway. The IRS rulings make it very difficult for Caucasian males to qualify for grants or loans. Shepherd pointed to the two exceptions to this ruling concerning white males. They are eligible if they were denied bank loans because Speedway is an economically depressed area or if they are applying for assistance to expand research and development. Shepherd doubted if a bank would find Speedway to be economically depressed and that fact would further reduce their chances to qualify for CDC assistance.
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