City of Oxford
Signage Improvement Grant

The Fairfield Commercial Revitalization Grant (CRG) provides Fairfield, Ohio building owners and small business owners with matching grants ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 to fund exterior improvements to commercial properties. Administered by the Fairfield Community Improvement Corporation (CIC) with staffing support from the City of Fairfield's Development Services Department, the program is designed to strengthen the economic vitality of the city's commercial business districts by improving the appearance of storefronts and other commercial properties. Grantees are required to provide at least 20 percent matching funds. To be eligible, applicants must operate a for-profit small business with 25 or fewer employees, use the property for a commercial purpose (such as retail, restaurant, or office space), be current on taxes, and be in compliance with all relevant codes. Eligible improvements include exterior work such as façade repairs, cleaning, and painting, replacement of obsolete signage, storefronts, awnings, doors, and windows, landscaping and site improvements, and associated design and engineering costs. Funds cannot be used for interior improvements, roof repairs or replacement, additions or new construction, machinery or equipment, minor routine maintenance, or improvements already underway. The application process requires interested applicants to obtain two cost estimates for planned improvements and to complete a pre-application meeting before submitting a formal funding application.

The Rhode Island Growth Catalyst Program is a targeted investment initiative designed to support the expansion of life sciences companies by supporting technology development and accelerating commercialization activities. By providing essential growth capital, this program acknowledges the vital role both innovators and manufacturers play in building a robust life sciences industry. Through strategic funding, the program helps businesses scale operations, drive technological advancements, and strengthen the state’s position as a leader in life sciences innovation and manufacturing.

The Electrochemical Systems program is part of the Chemical Process Systems cluster, which also includes: 1) the Catalysis program; 2) the Interfacial Engineering program; and 3) the Process Systems, Reaction Engineering, and Molecular Thermodynamics program. The goal of the Electrochemical Systems program is to support fundamental engineering science research that will enable innovative processes involving electrochemistry or photochemistry for the sustainable production of electricity, fuels, chemicals, and other specialty and commodity products. Processes utilizing electrochemistry or photochemistry for sustainable energy and chemical production must be scalable, environmentally benign, reduce greenhouse gas production, and utilize renewable resources. Research projects that stress fundamental understanding of phenomena that directly impact key barriers to improved system or component-level performance (for example, energy efficiency, product yield, process intensification) are encouraged. Processes for energy storage should address fundamental research barriers for renewable electricity storage applications, for transport propulsion, or for other applications that could have impact towards climate change mitigation. For projects concerning energy storage materials, proposals should involve testable hypotheses that involve device or component performance characteristics that are tied to fundamental understanding of transport, kinetics, or thermodynamics. Advanced chemistries beyond lithium-ion are encouraged. Proposed research on processes utilizing electrochemistry or photochemistry should be inspired by the need for economic and impactful conversion processes. All proposal project descriptions should address how the proposed work, if successful, will improve process realization and economic feasibility and compare the proposed work against current state of the art. Topics of interest include: -Electrochemical energy storage and electrochemical production/conversion systems. -Radically new battery systems that can move the U.S. more rapidly toward a more sustainable transportation future and to greater renewable electricity production penetration. -High-energy density and high-power density batteries suitable for transportation and renewable energy storage applications are of primary interest. -Advanced systems involving metal anodes, solid-state electrolytes, nonaqueous systemsbeyond lithium, aqueous systems beyond lithium,and multivalent chemistries are encouraged. -Novel electrochemical and photochemical systems and processes for the production of chemicals and high-value products are encouraged. Additional fundamental science topics of interest to this program include the study of: -advanced fuel cell systems or fuel cell components for transportation propulsion or grid energy storage applications; -flow batteries for stationary energy storage applications including alternative redox chemistries (e.g., organic, inorganic, organometallic, macromolecular) and operating -strategies (e.g., redox-mediation, suspensions); and -photocatalytic or photoelectrochemical processes and devices for the splitting of water into hydrogen gas or for the reduction of carbon dioxide to liquid or gaseous fuels.

VCEDA operates a Renewable Energy Fund to help attract new green jobs and investment to Southwest Virginia's e-Region and to help diversify its economy. Projects eligible for funding from the Renewable Energy Fund include commercial/industrial generation projects using renewable energy sources; manufacture of renewable energy products and components; and workforce development and training projects to prepare the region’s workforce for renewable energy jobs. Funding is available as low-interest loans and/or grants for real estate acquisition, building construction, equipment purchases, and other physical improvements adding value to real estate, including associated soft costs. Grants are available to assist with workforce development and training, including tuition reimbursement, internships, and training equipment.

Grant funding is now available for woman- and minority-owned businesses with five or fewer employees located in the City of Utica. A total of $150,000 from the City’s 2025-2026 federal Community Development Block Grant funds will support this program. Grants will range from $5,000 to $15,000 and can be used for capital assets like machinery, equipment inventory, working capital or soft costs.