KRS 154.21-020: Kentucky Product Development Initiative of 2022 -- Establishment --

Funds -- Maximum amount.

(1) The Kentucky Product Development Initiative of 2022 is hereby established under

the cabinet. The cabinet shall partner with the Kentucky Assoc iation for Economic

Development to administer the program. The cabinet's administration of the

program includes but is not limited to the following:

(a) Creating and making available a standardized grant application and regional

grant application;

(b) Adopting a standardized scoring system pursuant to KRS 154.21-040;

(c) Reviewing the applications and proposals submitted by the proposed grant

recipients;

(d) Verifying the eligibility of the proposed grant recipients;

(e) Verifying that the proposed grant re cipient seeks grant money for an eligible

project prior to prioritizing and recommending the eligible grant recipient and

eligible project to the cabinet;

(f) Awarding grants to selected eligible grant recipients in two (2) rounds of

funding; and

(g) Compiling and submitting the following information, no later than November

1, 2024, and annually thereafter until the authorized appropriation is spent or

returned, for each application approved by the Kentucky Economic

Development Finance Authority related to the Kentucky Product

Development Initiative of 2022 to the Legislative Research Commission and

the Interim Joint Committee on Appropriations and Revenue:

1. The name of the applicant, a description of the eligible project, and the

location of each proposed project for which an application was received;

2. The date the application was approved by the Kentucky Economic

Development Finance Authority;

3. The amount of funding authorized for each project approved;

4. The total amount of funding disbursed for each project approved; and

5. The round of funding for which each project received approval.

(2) Upon receipt of eligible grant recipients and eligible project recommendations and

prioritization from the Kentucky Association for Economic Development and the

third-party independent site selection consultant, the cabinet shall verify and

process the eligible grant recipients and eligible project recommenda tions with the

intent to approve and award grants matching the selected grant recipient's

contribution to its eligible project on a dollar -for-dollar basis, under the economic

development fund program pursuant to KRS 154.12-100.

(3) (a) Prior to the first round of grant awards, the cabinet shall allocate a percentage

of the total funds appropriated to this program by the General Assembly to

each county in the Commonwealth. When awarding grants in the first round

of funding, the cabinet shall not award grants to an eligible grant recipient or a

group of eligible grant recipients in excess of the amount allocated to the

county in which it or they are located, except when pooled pursuant to

subsection (4) of this section. The allocation shall be made according to the

following calculations:

1. For all counties except Jefferson County, the percentage of the fund

each county is eligible to receive shall be determined by each county's

proportion of the state's population based on the most recent federal

decennial census;

2. For Jefferson County, the percentage of the fund it shall be eligible to

receive shall be determined by the county's proportion of the state's

population based on the most recent federal decennial census, which

shall be discounted by fifty percent (50%); and

3. The maximum funding available for an approved development project is

two million dollars ($2,000,000) per county except as permitted by

subsection (4) of this section.

(b) If there are funds available after the first round of grant awards, the cabinet

shall initiate a second round of grant awards through the Kentucky Product

Development Initiative. Any remaining funds available for program use shall

be pooled and available to eligible grant recipients from all counties on a first-

come, first-served basis, but each county's eligible allocation shall not exceed

two million dollars ($2,000,000) except as permitted by subsection (4) of this

section.

(4) For selected eligible grant recipients that are involved in a regional project, the

cabinet ma y pool the potential allocation of funds available for each county

represented by the eligible grant recipients for the grant amount awarded. For

example, if a county that is eligible for up to ten percent (10%) of the program

funds based on the calculatio ns in subsection (3) of this section partners with a

county that is eligible for five percent (5%) of the program funds based on the

calculations in subsection (3) of this section, then the total allocation for the

regional project that the cabinet may award is fifteen percent (15%).

(5) Grant applicants that have received discretionary mega -development project

funding shall be disqualified from participation in the Kentucky Product

Development Initiative.