21 S.C. communities receive public improvement grants

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Twenty-one S.C. communities will receive $7.6 million in public improvement project funding in the latest round of Community Development Block Grants.

The S.C. Department of Commerce awards the grants in the spring and fall each year. Recipients are selected through a competitive process and must meet one of three objectives: benefit those with low-to-moderate income; prevent or eliminate blight; or meet other urgent needs which pose an immediate public health threat. Local governments are required to provide at least a 10% funding match.

The funds are allocated to the state from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“In South Carolina, we work hard to ensure that economic development touches every corner of our state, and the CDBG program is an important tool in our arsenal for overall improvement,” S.C. Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt said in a news release. “To further attract investments to our communities, we need to preserve the remarkable quality of life that exists throughout our state, and these public projects are critical to doing just that.”

The recipients and awarded amounts are: