WILMINGTON — The Clinton County Port Authority was invited to apply for a Duke Energy Local Community Impact Grant earlier in the year, and recently received notification that it was successful in obtaining the $2,500 grant.

“We believed our new program would be the perfect fit for the funds the Duke Program targets,” said Economic Development Director Jennifer Ekey. “We will be using them specifically for long-term strategic planning and marketing materials that portray Economic Development opportunities in Clinton County.”

The planning, and resulting materials, will be used to reach out locally and regionally to raise the profile of Clinton County.

The Clinton County Board of Commissioners, the City of Wilmington, the Community Improvement Corporation of Wilmington, and the Clinton County Convention and Visitors Bureau joined with the Port Authority to launch a County-Wide Economic Development Program, housed within the Port Authority, in mid-2019.

This collaboration allows the Port Authority to be responsible for coordinating a range of economic development services — business retention and expansion, business recruitment, and coordinating the efforts and resources of other economic development channel partners, to ensure consistency and maximize efficiency in the pursuit of business development opportunities, on a county wide basis.

“This funding will augment funds from our investors and Port Authority funds, which reinforces that this community-wide program is unique and recognized as a benchmark program,” said Dan Evers, Executive Director of the Clinton County Port Authority.

The Duke Energy Foundation provides philanthropic support to meet the needs of communities where Duke Energy customers live and work. The Foundation contributes more than $30 million annually in charitable gifts and is funded by Duke Energy shareholder dollars.

More information about the Foundation and its Powerful Communities program can be found at https://www.duke-energy.com/community/duke-energy-foundation.