Regional Cultivation Fund: Meeting Regional Needs Post-COVID
Two of the final Regional Cultivation Fund (RCF) awards were made in 2022. Each project was conceived in part as a response to COVID and recognized the extraordinary new demands on community leaders and on the regional economy. For the first project, WHIN solicited proposals to support and encourage entrepreneurial thinking and practices in new and existing businesses, especially in rural areas. In the post-pandemic economy, this project is boosting recovery and building resilience by helping counties connect more of their business- minded residents to local resources and to implant coaching and programming where none presently exists. The community partner is MatchBOX Coworking Studio, whose award-winning programming is now within reach of all 10 counties. MatchBOX also received a matching grant from IEDC for the project.?
For the final RCF project, each of the 10 Community Foundations (CF) in the region were invited to submit a proposal to use a $50,000 grant for a project of their choice. There were very few restrictions on the funds, as the WHIN Grants Committee felt that the CF executives and their boards were best positioned to?identify their communities’ highest priorities and that WHIN funds could provide much-needed flexibility. The results are beginning to be reported and they indeed reflect the leadership of the region’s Community Foundations.?