KVCOG can provide technical assistance for these, and other grant projects of interest to your municipality. For assistance, please reach out to Jessie Cyr, Economic & Community Development Director at  or (207) 453-4258, Ext 220

• Community Facilities Direct Loan & Grant Program- USDA
• Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) 
• Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) Grant Programs
• Shore and Harbor Planning Grants
• Nonpoint Source Pollution Control Projects Grant
• Coastal Community Planning Grant Programs
• Community Broadband Startup and Planning Grants - ConnectME 

Community Facilities Direct Loan & Grant Program-USDA

This program provides affordable funding to develop essential community facilities in rural areas. An essential community facility is defined as a facility that provides an essential service to the local community for the orderly development of the community in a primarily rural area, and does not include private, commercial or business undertakings. 
Read more about the program at the USDA Website.

For additional information for areas within:
Kennebec County: Jessie L. Archer, Area Specialist (207) 753-9400
Somerset County:  Nathan Persinger, Area Specialist (207) 900-3676

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Community Development Block Grants (CDBG)

The following programs are available to Maine Communities and in certain instances, Counties through the Office of Community Development. For specific information on applications dates and program eligible activities, refer to the individual application packages and the current Program Statement.

Full program descriptions and application materials are available on the Maine DECD website.

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Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) 

Catalyst Program 

Catalyst Program Overview

The Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) is making available up to $50 million in grant funds to be competitively awarded through the Catalyst Program. The Catalyst Program stimulates economic growth and inspires partnerships that improve rural economic vitality across the four-state NBRC region. The Catalyst Program supports a broad range of economic development initiatives that modernize and expand water and wastewater systems; revitalize transportation infrastructure; establish workforce development programs and facilities; grow outdoor recreation infrastructure and economies; and construct new childcare and healthcare facilities.

Forest Economy Program

Forest Economy Program Program Overview

Approximately $4 MM is available for the 4-state NBRC Region, up to a $1,000,000 maximum award to eligible projects.  The purpose of this program is to support the forest-based economy and assists in the industry’s evolution to include new technologies and viable business models across the 4-state NBRC region. The Forest Economy Program is distinct from other programs in two important ways: 1) the Forest Economy Program emphasizes the potential for impact across the entire NBRC region; and 2) Infrastructure projects (defined by Congress in NBRC’s authorizing language to be inclusive of transportation, water and wastewater, telecommunications, and energy) must directly support the forest industry.

Timber for Transit Program

Timber for Transit Program Overview 

Approximately $25 MM is available over the next 3 years to eligible projects.  This program advances the use of domestic forest products in transportation infrastructure projects across Maine, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont to showcase the capabilities of wood in these applications. Highly competitive projects will demonstrate and widely promote the utility of high value forest products (e.g. glued laminated timber, cross laminated timber, composite materials, etc.) in transportation infrastructure and commit to enhancing climate resilience in rural communities.

2024 Spring Round Timeline 

• Materials available: January 2024
• Pre-Applications (required) Due By: March 22, 2024
• Application portal open: April 15, 2024
• Applications (by invitation only) Due By: May 3, 2024
• NBRC notice of awards & notice to unsuccessful applicants: June 28, 2024

2024 Fall Round Timeline

• Materials available: January 2024
• Pre-Applications (required) Due By: September 6, 2024
• Application portal open: September 15, 2024
• Applications (by invitation only) Due By: October 18, 2024
• NBRC notice of awards & notice to unsuccessful applicants: December 20, 2024

 Visit NBRC's website for more information.

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Shore and Harbor Planning Grants

The Shore and Harbor Planning Grant Program supports municipal and regional projects in Maine’s Coastal Zone.  This provides resources on a competitive basis for shoreline access planning, waterfront and harbor planning, identification and resolution of waterfront use conflicts, and planning, feasibility, and design efforts for resilient waterfront infrastructure. Shore and Harbor Planning Grant projects are often well prepared to compete for construction funding through other sources.

Information pertaining to the next round of funding (Fiscal Year 2025) will be available in Early 2024 

View more details about the Shore and Harbor Planning Grant Program on the State of Maine Department of Marine Resources page here. 

FY24 Grant Program Statement

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Nonpoint Source Pollution Control Projects
Watershed-Based Plan Development (Maine DEP)

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) administers Nonpoint Source (NPS) grants to help communities make progress restoring or protecting waters named as NPS Priority Watersheds. Click here to view the Nonpoint Source Priority Watersheds List.

NPS grants are available to:

1. Implement a watershed-based plan.
   A DEP-accepted and active (i.e. not expired) plan is a prerequisite to be eligible to submit a proposal for an implementation grant. List of DEP-accepted active and expired plans with the respective plan expiration dates
2. Develop a watershed-based plan.
   A plan provides assessment and management information and describes actions needed to restore NPS-impaired water bodies or protect water bodies threatened by NPS pollution.

Grants for projects are funded with monies provided to DEP by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under Section 319(h) or Section 604(b) of the Clean Water Act.

Applications and all related materials for the next round are anticipated in March of 2023 and will be made available on the DEP Website.

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Coastal Community Planning Grant Programs

The Coastal Community Planning Grants opportunity for FY24 

The Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry's Municipal Planning Assistance Program (MPAP) is seeking applications for a new round of Coastal Community Grants (CCG). FY23 CCG details and the program statement are found on the MPAP website. CCG applications are due Friday, June 2, 2023, by 5:00 pm.

Open to counties, municipalities, unorganized territories, tribal governments, and Regional Planning Organizations in Maine's coastal zone, CCG competitive grants include projects in Maine's coastal zone with a focus on the following priority coastal issues, as identified by the Maine Coastal Program and the Maine Climate Council's Maine Won't Wait: A Four-Year Plan for Climate Action

CCGs are an important element of the MPAP mission to foster innovative and effective approaches to land use management by providing technical and financial assistance to Maine municipalities.

The Municipal Planning Assistance Program anticipates making multiple CCG awards ranging from $20,000 to $50,000. Total funds available for the FY 2024 program are approximately $165,000. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provides funding for these grants in cooperation with the Maine Department of Marine Resources Maine Coastal Program.

This CCG statement is being released to coincide with the second round of Community Action Grants from the Community Resilience Partnership in the Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future. CCG applicants are encouraged to examine opportunities for coordinating these two grant programs to maximize project scope and efficiencies. As non-federal funding, CCGs provide an eligible match for the federal Coastal Community Grant opportunity.

Applications are due:  June 2, 2023 no later than 5:00 p.m.

View the grant program statement and more information on MPAP's website. 

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Community Broadband "Connect The Ready" Grants - Maine Connectivity Authority

The Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA) "Connect the Ready" has announced its 2022 competitive grant round of $20 million for the fall application window.  This is round is to encourage proactive partnerships and collaborative efforts to design, fund, and build broadband infrastructure projects in eligible areas.  Detailed Program Guidance and applications will be released September 23, 2022 and are due by November 9, 2022.

The program will optimize broadband deployment in mostly unserved communities and encourage projects that will expand universal broadband service throughout large un(der)served areas.

Eligible applicants are public & private partners: internet service providers, or broadband utility districts, and other governmental entities that have chosen ISP partners. Projects should occur in partnership with communities that are ready to be connected by the proposed project. 
Read more at the Maine Connectivity Authority website.

For additional information, contact: Stephenie MacLagan, Maine Connectivity Authority
(207) 200-3197  

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The Community Resilience Partnership is a program from the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future (GOPIF), helping Maine communities reduce emissions and prepare for the impacts of climate change. The Partnership provides both grant funding and direct support to municipal and tribal governments for climate mitigation and adaptation projects.

Towns enrolled in the Community Resilience Partnership receive technical assistance, help with coordinating projects, and assistance applying for a myriad of state, federal, and philanthropic grants for resiliency projects. This series will cover a variety of topics to benefit communities enrolled and enrolling in the Partnership, including specific guidance and funding opportunities for sea level rise, electrification, efficiencies, renewable energy, planning, storm water management, green infrastructure, transportation, and more. This series will highlight the successes and challenges of town-specific projects and will provide a wide range of resources and tools to help enrolled and enrolling towns to build stronger communities.

Community Resilience Partnership Program Fact Sheet

Community Resilience Partnership Enrollment Guide 

List of Community Actions

Community Resilience Self-Evaluation

Sample Municipal Resolution

Grainne Shaw
Community & Resiliency Planner 
(207) 453-4258, Ext 211
gshaw@kvcog.org

Past Series

 These learning opportunities are designed for community members and leaders of municipalities already enrolled in the Community Resilience Partnership, those currently enrolling, as well as those interested in enrolling.

Municipal EV Development

Tuesday, April 11, 2023:

With over $19 million in EV charging infrastructure investment over the next 5 years, what should municipalities be paying attention to? From installing municipal charging stations to electrifying fleets, charging station ordinances, and EV funding opportunities we’ll cover the bases.

Landfill Solar

Thursday, March 9th, 2023: Slide Deck

This session was aimed at informing decision-makers, department heads, and facility operators on opportunities to lower municipal operating costs through the beneficial reuse of landfills for solar installations. We examined aspects of developing solar energy on landfills through case studies in central and western Maine. Solar developers and regulatory officials joined to address the environmental, engineering, and related regulatory concerns of these projects.

Guest Speakers:

• Scott Vlaun, Executive Director, Center for an Ecology-Based Economy (CEBE)
• Danny Piper, Owner, Sun Dog Solar
• Matt Young, Environmental Specialist, Department of Environmental Protection

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Efficiency Maine Energy Upgrades

February 14th, 2023: Slide Deck

Links shared in the chat:

1. Community Resilience Partnership Webpage
2. List of GOPIF’s Fundable 72 Priority Actions
3. CRP Community Action Grant Awards Summary Fall 2022

Efficiency Maine currently has generous rebate programs on lighting, HVAC, refrigeration upgrades, and electric vehicles for municipalities and tribal governments. This, coupled with a free virtual project consult, can be a winning combination to help towns achieve significantly reduce capital investment costs and energy savings. Learn more from Efficiency Maine staff as well as tour some recent municipal projects that took advantage of these programs.

Guest Speakers:

• Claire McGlinchey, Climate Resiliency Program Manager, Center for an Ecology-Based Economy

• Zach Gosselin, Environmental and Resiliency Planner, Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments

• Rick Meinking, Senior Program Manager, Efficiency Maine

• Gabe McPhail, Region 1 Coordinator, Community Resilience Partnership

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Building Stronger Communities - $125,000 Community Action Grants for Regional Projects

January 31st, 2023: Slide Deck

More Resources Here

Service providers, A Climate To Thrive (ACTT) and Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission (SMPDC), joined us for a discussion on how they each brought together neighboring communities to write climate action plans. While the benefits of multi-town collaboration can be stymied by any number of barriers, successful groups shared how they overcame those obstacles when they focused on the “dollars and sense” of working with the Community Resilience Partnership. Kennebec Valley Council of Governments (KVCOG), working with two groups converging around land conservation, community solar projects, and public works cooperatives, shared some lessons and challenges to working alongside communities with a variety of priorities and perspectives.

Speakers:

• Johannah Blackman, Executive Director, A Climate to Thrive
• Karina Graeter, Sustainability Coordinator, Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission
• Yvette Meunier, Regional Resiliency Coordinator, Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments
• Robyn Stanicki, Community Resilience Team Coordinator, Kennebec Valley Council of Governments

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Building Stronger Communities - Funding Projects into the Future

January 10th, 2023: Slide Deck

View Recording Here

Towns enrolled in the Community Resilience Partnership are provided technical assistance to apply for a myriad of state, federal, and philanthropic grants for projects targeted at making communities more resilience to the impacts of climate change. In this session, we heard from communities enrolled in the partnership as to how they were able to leverage multiple funding sources for a project. Examples included Skowhegan’s downtown plan as it related to active transportation, land use, land conservation, and Greenwood’s historic building preservation and energy upgrade project. This session also prepared towns in applying for the upcoming Community Action Grants to open in March.

Speakers:

• Zach Gosselin, Environmental and Resiliency Planner, Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments
• Yvette Meunier, Regional Resiliency Coordinator, Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments
• Robyn Stanicki, Community Resilience Team Coordinator, Kennebec Valley Council of Governments
• Matt Drost, Regional Transportation Planner, Maine Department of Transportation

More Resources:

Community Resilience Partnership Webpage

List of Regional Coordinators

List of GO PIF's Fundable 72 Priority Actions

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Building Stronger Communities - Climate Change: From Understanding to Action

December 29th, 2022: Slide Deck

Here

The Climate Science behind Maine Won’t Wait – the state’s four-year climate action plan. Discover how communities enrolled in the Community Resilience Partnership are using tools and strategies in the plan to lessen their climate impact and achieve cost savings and efficiencies while reducing the emissions that drive climate change.

Speakers:

• Community Resilience Partnership Regional Coordinators
• Karina Graeter, Region 1 Regional Coordinator and Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission Sustainability Coordinator
• Dr. Cassaundra Rose, Senior Science Analyst and Climate Council Coordinator with the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future

More Resources:

Maine Won't Wait - Maine's Four Year Climate Action Plan

Maine Climate Council

M2C EMPOWER Program - Resources for collaborating with businesses and other municipalities to develop EV charging

South Portland's Ordinance - Encouragement for EV charging infrastructure 

The Kennector and KITT in Kennebunk - Examples of partnerships with local transit agencies/entities to expand capacity

Biddeford Saco Transit Oriented Development Plan  -  Encouragement of transit-oriented & compact, mixed use development

Incentives for Clean Energy Businesses -  Virtual Sanford Renewable Energy Corridor

Solar Projects:

Topsham SolarSmart Bronze

MDI Community Solar Farm

Solarize Campaigns

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Building Stronger Communities - Introducing the Community Resilience Partnership 

December 13th, 2022: View Recording Here

The Community Resilience Partnership (CRP) is a new program through the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future aimed at helping communities become more resilient to the challenges ahead. Learn about the steps to enroll your community, the no-match grant opportunities, and the ongoing technical assistance available to help towns fund their priority projects through this program. Hear about how some of the 70+ communities are using this program to modernize buildings, fund transportation projects, promote natural climate solutions, invest in climate-ready infrastructure, and build more resilient communities. This session was aimed at town managers, select board members, municipal committees, interested residents, and organizations interested in building a more resilient community.

Speakers: 

• Claire McGlinchey, Climate Resiliency Program Manager, Center for an Ecology-Based Economy 
• Zach Gosselin, Environmental and Resiliency Planner, Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments 
• Yvette Meunier, Regional Resiliency Coordinator, Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments 
• Robyn Stanicki, Community Resilience Team Coordinator, Kennebec Valley Council of Governments 

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Culverts: Not Such a Drain After All

April 29, 2021: In our daily lives, we are usually unaware of each culvert we traverse as we commute from place to place, but where any road crosses any stream or river there is a culvert or a bridge. An undersized, or poorly designed culvert can quickly wash away a section of road, creating a significant safety hazard and adding substantial costs to a municipalities public works budget. Following best practices to identify and address potential flooding problems well before they occur makes both fiscal and safety sense. To help navigate these and related issues, Will Harper, KVCOG Resilience Coordinator, teamed up with Ernie Hilton, Selectman from Starks, Sarah Haggerty from Maine Audubon’s Stream Smart team, and KVCOG's own Environmental Planner, Gabe Gauvin. Listen in as they discussed how a community can build better, safer, infrastructure while improving stream and river habitats.

4.29.2021_Culverts_Presentation.pdf

More Resources:

• Stream Smart Maine: Provides design and consultation resources for stream crossings that improve habitat and last longer. Stream Smart also offers regular trainings and workshops for hands-on experience.
• Maine Stream Habitat Viewer: Allows a user to explore a statewide database of stream crossing barriers and valuable habitats.
• USGS Stream Stats: Allows a user to delineate a watershed basin and generate a report of flow characteristics for that basin.
• USGS National Map Viewer: Important features include the National Hydrography Dataset, Watershed Boundary Dataset, NLCD Land Cover, 3DEP Elevation, and NAIP Plus Imagery.
• USFWS National Wetlands Inventory: Maps current and historic wetlands and wetland habitats across the nation.
• FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer: Includes access flooding information on the NFHL online viewer (available for most of Maine) as well as the FEMA Map Service Center.
• Maine Geolibrary: For GIS and other technical users, offers access to a number of public datasets including those related to streams and stream crossings.

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Help My Business Now! Building Resilience with Funding, Tools, and Resources

February 2, 2021: KVCOG and our partners provided an overview of our new CARES Act Revolving Loan business funding opportunity including guidance on how these funds can best be utilized. This session also featured William Card, Economic Development Specialist with the SBA, who informed new and existing small businesses about SBA’s free and confidential Technical Assistance programs, as well as information about SBA’s own loan programs.

More Resources:

• SBA, Maine: Created in 1953, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) continues to help small business owners and entrepreneurs pursue the American dream. The SBA is the only cabinet-level federal agency fully dedicated to small business and provides counseling, capital, and contracting expertise as the nation’s only go-to resource and voice for small businesses.

02/18/2022: From salt to salons, central Maine agency takes broad view to providing local solutions

02/09/2022: As municipal road salt supplies run low, local agency works to secure shipments

02/05/2022: Central Maine communities consider different options for sharing code enforcement duties

05/26/2021: Virtual meetings to focus on Winslow's future

04/05/2021: U.S. Sens. Collins, King announce federal investment for EMDC

03/12/2021: Kennebec Valley Governments group nets $25k grant

02/18/2021: Fayette officials unveil draft of town's updated comprehensive plan

01/29/2021: KVCOG hosts Comprehensive and Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) Session with GrowSmart Maine highlighting community programs in smart growth  

01/29/2021: Readfield-area officials receive $22,000 grant to fund food composting program

01/22/2021: Kennebec Valley Council of Governments names new executive director

01/19/2021: KVCOG announces $670,000 in EDA Revolving Loan Funds now available to lend

01/11/2021: Winslow Town Council hears update on ambulance service, food waste program

01/08/2021: Winthrop officials to explore matching grant for improvements at Norcross Point

01/04/2021: Gardiner to start downtown master planning process