The NH Community Development Finance Authority announces that Justin Slattery has been appointed to CDFA’s Community Development Block Grant Advisory Board. Slattery, a Business Resource Specialist with the state Department of Resources and Economic Development, will help approve New Hampshire grant requests for federal CDBG funds.
NH Division of Economic Development Business Resource Specialist Justin Slattery
“We’re pleased to have someone of Justin’s caliber on the Advisory Board,” said CDFA Executive Director Kathy Bogle Shields. “Justin will bring his extensive experience in business and workforce investment to the board, which will help insure quality economic development projects are approved.”
Last year, CDBG economic development grants in NH assisted 26 businesses, 133 microenterprises, created 304 jobs, and retained another 50 jobs. CDBG housing grants serviced 418 units, 127 which were elderly occupied. Every CDBG dollar invested leveraged another $5.28 in private funds.
“I’m honored to represent the NH Division of Economic Development on the CDBG Advisory Board,” said Slattery. “I’ve worked with many businesses in the state and I’ve seen firsthand how a Community Development Block Grant can lead to economic growth and job creation.”
A Pelham native and a 2003 UNH graduate, Slattery has been with the New Hampshire Division of Economic Development since 2010. Before that he worked with NH Works/Workforce Investment Act, HireVision Staffing, and was Director of Citizen Services for Governor John Lynch. He and his wife Amy live in Goffstown.
The CDBG Advisory Board approves $8-10 million in grants annually for housing/public facilities and economic development projects for NH municipalities and counties. Community Development Block Grants are funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and administered in New Hampshire by the Community Development Finance Authority.
CDBG has been hailed by the US Conference of Mayors and by the Council of State Community Development Agencies as “the Federal Government’s most successful domestic program.”
The Enterprise Energy Fund was created by a $3.5-million award to the Community Development Finance Authority (CDFA) by the Office of Energy and Planning‘s State Energy Program, from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The fund is a low-interest loan and grant program to help finance energy improvements in buildings owned or leased by small, medium, and large businesses and nonprofits statewide.
“Our goal is to provide opportunities for employers to use capital to strengthen their organizations, the communities in which they operate, and the families they serve,” said Community Loan Fund President Juliana Eades. “These funds will allow even small businesses and nonprofits to explore energy improvements that will reduce their operating expenses for many years to come.”