City of Hancock receives $3.5 million in grants in the last 9 months

With the recent $176,390 Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) Grant award to the City of Hancock, that will be used to provide assistance for market and job growth for Vollwerth’s Inc., the City of Hancock has received $3,540,390 in grants in the last 9 months.

The grants started with a $250,000 MEDC grant to help fund the renovations of the building located at 119 Quincy St. which will house the new K.C. Bonkers Toys & Coffee Shop, along with four new apartments.

The next grant was a Michigan Dept. of Transportation (MDOT) Alternatives Program (TAP) grant of $1,050,000 for the Quincy Street Streetscape project with construction scheduled in 2016.

Then a Federal Dept. of Agriculture Rural Development grant of $1,808,000 for water distribution upgrades, of which $945,000 will be spent on the Quincy Street water distribution improvements as part of the 2016 MDOT Quincy Street reconstruct project.

The final grant was received from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) for $256,000 for a single family and home-buyer acquisition program in the city.

Mayor Lisa McKenzie stated, “I am thrilled that the City of Hancock is able to access existing state and federal grants to provide much needed housing, job and infrastructure investment for our city.”

City Manager Glenn Anderson added, “The City will leverage the grant funds into another $7 million of public and private investment in the City creating construction, manufacturing and retail jobs.”