North Carolina’s Industrial Development Fund (IDF) provides incentive industrial financing grants and loans available to local municipal or county government applicants located in the 80 most economically distressed counties in the State.  All applications must be reviewed and approved by the Secretary of Commerce.

Before the approval of an application, the Secretary must determine that:

1. The funds shall be used for construction of or improvements to new or existing water, sewer, gas, telecommunications, high-speed broadband, electrical utility distribution lines or equipment, or transportation infrastructure for existing or new or proposed industrial building.
2. The project is in an  eligible county.  (Each year, the Secretary ranks all counties and assigns tiers based on adverse economic data.)
3. Jobs created (in no more than three years) will have a measurable, favorable impact on the project’s immediate area commensurate with the size of the grant.  The application must show the number and type of jobs created.
4. Applicant has demonstrated capability to operate the facility.
5. Funding will not result in abandonment of an existing facility, except for obsolescence, lack of labor, or site limitations.
6. The proposed project will not have a significant adverse effect on the environment.

IDF incentive industrial financing is provided in the following ways:

• Basic IDF (grants or loans)
• Utility (grants)

General Requirements

• Applications must show that IDF funding is necessary for job creation, that any non-IDF funding source is in place, and that the project is authorized by the local government. For grants, the Department requires that local units of government match three state dollars with one local dollar.
• Pertaining to Basic IDF financing and the Utility Account financing  there is no local match requirement if the project is located in a county that has one of the 25 most economically distressed ranking as defined under G.S. 143B-437.08 after adjustments are applied.
• For Basic IDF financing, the participating private entity must provide a statement of commitment to create the jobs, with a timetable and parties responsible, and must state that private money has not been expended on the project and that the project has not yet begun.
• For grants, the project owner or operator must establish financial capability by furnishing three years' financial and operating statements or, in the case of a new business, three years' pro forma statements and a business plan.
• All grantees must comply with North Carolina Environmental Policy Rules in the North Carolina Administrative Code unless the activity is a non-major activity (per NCAC T15A:01C.1504).
• The Department may review a project at any time during the first two years. If a project has not made reasonable progress in creating jobs or has misspent funds, or if its benefiting company has closed or moved without having accomplished its commitments, the Department may require repayment of a grant or may accelerate loan repayments.
• A pre-application conference is necessary to discuss a proposed IDF application.  Attendees will include representatives from the Department of Commerce, the applicant and the benefiting firm.  This conference may be waived for a project using less than $50,000 of IDF funds.

Application Process

Once a pre-application conference has been held and an application received by the Department of Commerce, an approval letter will be mailed to the applicant. If the Department does not approve the application, they will inform the applicant of the reasons. Applications will be approved or denied by the end of the month following assignment of a processing case number.

Units of government may apply for a 45-day reservation of funds for projects, to induce expanding or new employers to create new jobs. Such an application is similar to the normal application for funds but involves less detail. The minimum information presented would be the name of the company/project, location, type of industry, number of jobs proposed, and investment.

A reservation of funds must be in writing. This reservation of funds does not guarantee approval of the project. Reservation of funds will not exceed half of the program funds available and not previously committed. The Commerce Finance Center supplies a form used to request a Reservation of Funds, or otherwise, to set up funds for a project.

For more information, contact:

Mark Poole

Commerce Finance Center

919-733-4907

mpoole@nccommerce.com

Applications may be submitted directly to the Secretary of the Department or to:

The North Carolina Department of Commerce 
Commerce Finance Center
4318 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-4318

IDF incentive industrial financing is provided in the following ways: (links to text below)