ST. LOUIS, March 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The board of directors of the Ameren Community Development Corporation (AmerenCDC) announced today that applications are now available for the 2007 AmerenCDC economic development grant program. This will be the only grant cycle conducted by the AmerenCDC in 2007.
The AmerenCDC funds projects that promote economic development and job growth in AmerenUE's electric service territory in Missouri. To date, the AmerenCDC has awarded $8.1 million of the total $9 million in funding available for projects.
Individuals and groups can apply to the grant program from now through May 1, 2007. To request a copy of the application, contact Ameren's Economic Development Department at eddept@ameren.com, or by phone at 800.981.9409. You can also secure a copy of the application by visiting the "AmerenCDC" link on Ameren's Web site, http://www.ameren.com/ .
Created with the 2002 completion of a joint settlement of a rate case between AmerenUE, Missouri Public Service Commission staff and other stakeholders, the AmerenCDC is dedicated to addressing critical economic development initiatives in the state. It is Missouri's first utility-based economic development corporation to operate exclusively across the 20,000 square miles of AmerenUE's retail electric service area in Missouri.
The AmerenCDC is managed, supervised and controlled by its board of directors, who were selected by a collaborative process between the Missouri Governor's Office, the Missouri Public Service Commission and AmerenUE.
Ameren made an up-front contribution of $5 million to the CDC in September 2002. The company will fund an additional $1 million in each of the following four years of the plan, bringing total amount to $9 million to fulfill the commitments of the rate-case settlement.
The board will distribute these funds based on each applicant's ability to stimulate community and economic development, resulting in community revitalization and the creation or retention of jobs.
Community development corporations have been used as an economic development tool dating back to the mid-1970s. Today, they are used to stimulate economic development, housing, redevelopment and commercial revitalization in communities.
The Missouri Department of Economic Development has been instrumental in establishing several community-based CDCs to leverage state and federal funding resources for the benefit of communities. By covering AmerenUE's 65- county Missouri electric service area, the AmerenCDC will have broad geographic distribution and increased project activity.
AmerenUE is a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Ameren Corporation. Ameren companies serve 2.4 million electric customers and nearly 1 million natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area of Missouri and Illinois.
SOURCE: AmerenCDC
CONTACT: Tim Fox of AmerenCDC, +1-314-554-3120, tfox@ameren.com
Web site: http://www.ameren.com/