The funding comes from the federal Community Development Block Grant Recovery (CDBG-R) program administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The CDBG program provides communities with resources to address a wide range of development needs including affordable housing, and the creation of jobs through the expansion and retention of businesses. The Wyoming Business Council administers the grant program for the state.

Listen to .mp3 clip of Shawn Reese - director of the Investment Ready Communities Division at the Business Council

"The Community Development Block Grant program is federally funded, unlike the Business Ready Community or Community Facilities grant programs which are also administered by the Business Council, but are funded by the state," said Shawn Reese, director of the Investment Ready Communities Division at the Business Council. "Applicants for these federal stimulus dollars had to meet certain federal guidelines to receive funding. We believe these projects are a good fit for these funds and will strongly benefit their communities."

The federal funds awarded include:

• Powell: $500,000 with a community match of $50,000 to purchase property and construct a building for the Mountain Spirit Habitat for Humanity ReStore. The project will generate construction jobs, and expects to create four full-time and six part-time positions in the store and program management offices, with an additional two full-time and four part-time positions created within the next three years.
• Sundance: $357,718 with a community match of $82,100 to construct a building for the Sundance Kid's Day Care. In addition to the construction jobs created, this project will retain five jobs and create three full-time and one part-time position.

The mission of the Wyoming Business Council is to facilitate the economic growth of Wyoming. For more information, please visit http://www.wyomingbusiness.org.