HARRISBURG – Rep. Garth Everett (R-Lycoming) today said small business owners can apply for the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Small Business Advantage Grant to finance pollution prevention and energy efficiency projects. Businesses can apply for 50-percent matching funds of up to $9,500 to adopt or acquire energy-efficient or pollution-prevention equipment or procedures.

“This grant program is one that can do a great deal of good for our small businesses that are looking to upgrade facilities and help protect the environment at the same time,” said Everett.

Applicants must be a for-profit corporation, limited liability corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship or other legal entity with 100 or fewer full-time employees. The grant-supported project must be located in Pennsylvania, be owned by the applicant and save the business at least 25 percent plus $500 in annual energy consumption or in pollution handling or prevention related expenses.

Applicants may be manufacturers, retailers, service providers, mining operators or agricultural businesses. Eligible projects include HVAC and boiler upgrades, high-efficiency lighting, solvent recovery systems, waste recycling systems and auxiliary power units deployed as anti-idling technology for trucks.

The application deadline is Sept. 6. Eligible applications will be approved on a first-come, first-served basis from July 8 through Sept. 6, or until funds are exhausted, whichever comes first. Funding is eligible for those costs incurred between July 8, 2013, and June 30, 2014.

Applications must be mailed to the Department of Environmental Protection’s Grant Center, P.O. Box 8776, Harrisburg, 17105-8776 or hand delivered to DEP’s Grant Center, 15th Floor, Rachel Carson State Office Building, 400 Market St., Harrisburg, PA 17101-2301.  Faxes or electronic submissions will not be accepted.

For more information and to view the application package, instructions and application form, visit www.dep.state.pa.us and click on the “Small Business Advantage Grant” button. To contact the Small Business Ombudsman’s Office, call 717-772-8909 or email epadvantagegrant@pa.gov.

Everett said his district office can assist with the application process by calling (570) 546-2084.