In its largest grant awarding yet, the Port Authority, an affiliate of St. Louis County Economic Council, has awarded the latest round of grants from its Community Reinvestment Fund.
The Community Reinvestment Fund was created with revenue generated by the lease of the former National Lead site to Pinnacle Entertainment for the operation of River City Casino. The Port Authority has pledged to reinvest 75 percent of lease payments received from River City Casino directly into the community of Lemay for the first five years of the casino’s operation.
The Community Reinvestment Fund represents a commitment to the residents, not-for-profits and businesses in St. Louis County. The grants are awarded on the merits of the project and the anticipated economic benefit to the region.
Award recipients are:
American Legion Post 162 — $19,500, capital improvements to facilities.
Feed My People – $180,000, construction of new building facade.
Friends of Jefferson Barracks — $250,000, restoration of north entry gate to Jefferson Barracks.
Lemay Child and Family Center — $350,000, procurement of new playground equipment and facility improvements.
Lemay Development Corp. — $1,600,000, predevelopment costs and loan for property acquisition.
Non-Lemay recipients are:
Information Technology Entrepreneur Network, or ITEN — $150,000, develop new funding streams for entrepreneurs, expand institutional collaboration, build investor relationships and expand staff.
Justine Petersen — $95,000, establish a micro-lending program funded by the Small Business Administration and hire a small-business counselor.
Spanish Lake Community Association — $29,978, Interior improvements and renovations to the historic Twillman House.
Grants are distributed semiannually by the St. Louis County Port Authority through the Community Reinvestment Fund. Applications for the next round of funding will be available April 1.
To learn more about this program and for a complete list of past grantees, visit