JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMISSION APPROVES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FUNDS TO CARA AND HICA

The Jefferson County Commission today approved economic development funding to two organizations to support small business growth in Jefferson County. Both the Central Alabama Redevelopment Alliance (CARA) and the Hispanic and Immigrant Center of Alabama (HICA) will receive $150,000 each to work with individual businesses to help them grow and succeed. This is the third year of supporting both organizations.

As a condition of the grant, both organizations agree to deliver a small business-focused curriculum and technical assistance, provide one-on-one advisory support, facilitate access to capital through lending programs, and support business formation.

County Economic Development Advisor Jeff Traywick says both organizations have been extremely successful in the last couple of years in helping individuals grow their businesses.

“We also provided $150,000 in support for the Birmingham Business Resource Center earlier this year,” said Traywick. “We wanted to go ahead and get this additional support to both CARA and HICA because they have been so successful with their educational programs, helping small business owners in our community. It's one thing to court outside industry to locate in the County, but it's equally important to support the businesses that we have here and help them grow.”