The Carolinas Associated General Contractors (CAGC) Foundation is developing grant guidance and an application for qualified businesses and organizations to complete to be eligible for funding that can be used for construction industry COVID-19 mitigation efforts.
These tools will support the allocation of a $3.7 million North Carolina legislature grant from the state’s portion of CARES federal funding, CAGC says in a statement. “The Foundation grant will be used to make subgrants to non-profits and businesses in the state for coronavirus mitigation efforts in the construction workplace.”
The legislation stipulates that $3 million of the grant funds are to be awarded to construction businesses and non-profits that reside in the state for medical staffing and equipment needed “to screen and protect individuals in the workplace, the purchase of personal protective equipment for individual workers use while on a jobsite, rapid response testing kits, implementing computer or smartphone applications that enable workers to answer daily screening questions before reporting to the jobsite, purchase of jobsite sanitization equipment for use in disinfecting jobsites, mental health support, and other pandemic-related safety gear for construction workers.”
The remaining $750,000 will be awarded to media organizations or other entities that can provide multi-lingual education, training, and community outreach programs using various media to reach construction workers, including those who lack proficiency in the English language.
CAGC says an announcement will be made soon regarding the timeline of the grant process and the requirements of the eligibility requirements of the subgrantees. Once the application information is available, potential recipients will need to act quickly as CAGC says the funding must be spent by Dec. 30.