Communities across the country leave federal dollars on the table each year by failing to leverage funding resources for redevelopment. Don’t let your community make the same mistake!
Join PPM at the fourth annual Northwest Florida Brownfield Redevelopment Forum on June 16, 2016. Here, you’ll learn about the federal programs in place to help your community transform blight into beautiful assets that can increase tax revenue and stimulate local economy.
PPM Project Manager Ben Clabaugh will participate as a panel speaker for the forum, covering brownfields contamination resolution. Clabaugh emphasized, “This conference is a solid introduction to the program that can get funds for redevelopment in any community.”
“For example,” Clabaugh referenced, “in 2013 the City of Pensacola was awarded a $400,000 community-wide grant from the EPA for the redevelopment of brownfields. PPM is honored to have been selected to aid the City in facilitating this program. There are many other communities who could benefit from the same grant funding, but just don’t realize it.”
Melissa Pearce, grant specialist at PPM, agreed, “This is a great place for questions—to really get answers from others who have already been through the process. It helps you plan with the end in mind.”
Discussions will include an introduction to brownfields assessment and cleanup, local redevelopment successes, Florida legislative updates and economic incentives. Attendees may also participate in a breakout session for an in-depth discussion of funding opportunities for brownfield redevelopment
Kate Daniel, planning manager for the West Florida Regional Planning Council, explains the forum “offers an opportunity for all interested parties to come together annually and learn about resources for assessment, cleanup and redevelopment of brownfield sites, to review case study comparisons about successful brownfield redevelopment in [northwest Florida], to discuss technical components of site cleanup and to network with brownfields professionals.”
Registration is free, and forum attendance qualifies as four professional development hours, approved by the Florida Board of Professional Engineers. The course will be held at the Santa Rosa County Auditorium from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm.
The forum is hosted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Northwest District, the West Florida and Apalachee Regional Planning Councils and the Environmental Protection Agency.