Whatcom County EDI Program

The EDI Program (Economic Development Investment Program), is the brainchild of Whatcom County Executive, Pete Kremen. The Washington State Legislature in 1997 authorized rural counties, like Whatcom County, to retain a portion of the sales tax collected to finance public facilities. The goal of the legislation is to improve the economy of rural counties. To achieve this, Mr. Kremen and his staff implemented a countywide program that would allow local governments to access a portion of the funds to help build needed facilities that would enable economic development opportunities.

To help accomplish the goal of improving the economy of Whatcom County, the EDI Program will provide financing for "Public Facilities" through very low interest loans, grants or a combination of both. The applicant for the financing must be a public entity or local government. Normally local governments include the county, cities, port, P.U.D., water and sewer, and other districts. Private firms cannot apply for funding directly. However, the private sector is a critical part of this process.

The EDI can assist private sector businesses by making primary loans to Whatcom County political subdivisions that will assist in financing public facilities that are required by business in order to create or retain jobs. In other words, the EDI program is intended to finance public facilities that will stimulate private investment that will facilitate the expansion, retention or attraction of businesses and increase employment opportunities in Whatcom County.

• Roads
• Bridges
• Water Facilities
• Sanitary Sewer Facilities
• Storm Sewer Facilities
• Railroad
• Electricity
• Natural Gas
• Commercial Infrastructure
• Buildings or Structures
• Port Facilities
• Transportation Infrastructure
• Telecommunication Infrastructure

Public Facility projects may include planning, acquisition, construction, repair, reconstruction, replacement or rehabilitation or improvement to existing facilities.

EDI Program Key Points:

• Projects must comply with all applicable federal, state, and local regulations, meet the EDI Program objectives, and be consistent with the Whatcom County Comprehensive Plan, and/or the Whatcom Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy, or the comprehensive plan of the city or town affected by the project.
• The minimum project size that EDI will consider funding is $25,000.
• EDI loans and grants may be part of a larger package involving other funding sources. EDI loans and grants may be used to leverage other funding sources toward the total project financing.
• Whatcom County will return repayments of EDI loan principal and interest to the EDI fund.
• Local match of ten (10) percent of the EDI request is required. Local match may be cash, in-kind contribution or other appropriate revenue source.

The Process

The Northwest Economic Council has been designated to be the point of contact for the application process. Application forms and program information is available at the NWEC offices.

The applicant should complete and return the application along with all the appropriate attachments to the Economic Council for preliminary review. When the application is determined to be complete, it will be forwarded to the county administration and placed on the agenda for review by the EDI Board. The EDI Board will meet at least quarterly to review all EDI applications. The EDI Board will then make a recommendation on the application, based on program criteria, to the County Council. The County Council has the final approval of the funding application.

If the application is approved by the County Council, the county administration will prepare the necessary contracts. The county administration will also handle the disbursement of funds and service the loans. Principal and interest payments will be returned to the EDI fund for future projects.

This is a brief overview of the EDI program. The important thing to remember is that the funds are for "Public Facilities" and the applicant must be a "Public Entity" or local government. The Economic Council facilitates the application process and passes the completed application to the County Administrator's Office. The EDI Board makes the recommendation to fund the proposed project to the County Council. It is the County Council that makes the final decision on project funding.

EDI Program and Policies
EDI Application