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Michigan Community Action Agency Association
Office Park West, 516 S. Creyts Road, Suite A, Lansing MI 48917, PH: (517) 321-7500 FAX: (517) 321-7504

Community Economic Development Program Operational Projects

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2008, contingent upon available funding, the Office of Community Services (OCS) will award Community Economic Development (CED) discretionary grant funds for well-planned, financially viable, and innovative projects. OCS will award funds to Community Development Corporations (CDCs) that are experienced in implementing economic development projects. OCS intends that grant funds awarded under this announcement will provide resources to eligible CDCs for their job creation and business projects, as a strategy to address broader objectives such as arresting tendencies toward financial dependency, chronic unemployment, and community deterioration in both urban and rural areas. Eligible CDCs must submit a business plan that demonstrates the economic viability of the venture.

Job Opportunities for Low-Income Individuals (JOLI) Program

The Office of Community Services' (OCS) Job Opportunities for Low-Income Individuals (JOLI) program helps low-income individuals achieve economic self-sufficiency. The purpose of the JOLI program is to create jobs to be filled by low-income individuals. JOLI applicants provide technical and/or financial assistance to private employers in the community to assist them in creating employment and business opportunities for individuals receiving TANF and other low-income individuals. In order to create these sustainable employment and other opportunities, funded projects should focus on the following three program strategies: (1) new business ventures, (2) business expansion, and (3) self-employment/micro-enterprise projects. Applicants must state clearly both in the abstract and at the beginning of the project, which one of these three program strategies they will be using. While OCS will accept applications that propose projects containing more than one of these program strategies, OCS encourages applicants to focus on one. Applicants are required to allot a minimum of 20 percent of the JOLI funds received for the provision of financial assistance to program participants for the purpose of creation or expansion of a business created by the applicant's project.