PPM Program Frequently Asked Questions

PPM Frequently Asked Questions

• There is a total of $1,500,000 available for grants under this program. Funds will be awarded through a competitive process that determines the need and impact based on the statutory requirements for the program.

• This fund is restricted to New Hampshire-based entities engaged in the processing or manufacturing of pulp, paper and paperboard products and producing paper products. Such businesses most closely align with NAICS code 3221 – Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Mills.
  • Grant recipients must have a NH Vendor # and NH Secretary of State Business ID.
  • Grant recipients must be in good standing with the New Hampshire Department of Revenue and any other New Hampshire COVID-19 relief programs through which they have received funding.
  • Grant recipients must not be debarred or suspended from programs and activities involving federal financial and non-financial assistance or benefits.

• The applicant must demonstrate that funding will be used exclusively for the benefit of a New Hampshire based-entity facility and meet all other eligibilities and job creation/preservation requirements.
  • ELIGIBLE USES are hard costs, such as*:
    • Equipment
    • Construction
    • Energy generation and/or efficiency enhancements
    • Environmental remediation

• INELIGIBILE USES are costs not directly related to infrastructure or hard costs, such as:
  • Programs
  • Incentives
  • Taxes
  • Land acquisition
  • Operating expenses or subsidies

• Applicants must complete the program application and provide any necessary documentation to support or substantiate responses to prompts in that application. The application can be accessed by [CLICKING HERE].
  • As part of the application, applicants shall demonstrate and quantify the impact of COVID-19, infrastructure, industry decline, workforce development, and other factors impacting the forest products manufacturing industry in New Hampshire.
  • Applicants must also demonstrate that jobs will be preserved or created as a result of receiving grant funding from this program.

• All applications are due by March 15, 2024, at 4:00 PM EST.
• Award notifications, after review of submitted applications, are anticipated by March 29, 2024.
• Awards are not final until authorized by the Governor & Executive Council. Award agreements are anticipated to be presented to the Governor and Council for final authorization at a Council meeting in April or May.” To “Awards are not final until authorized by the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee, as well as the Governor & Executive Council. Award agreements are anticipated to be presented to the Fiscal Committee and Governor and Council for final authorization at a Council meeting in April or May.

• An entity should not submit its application until it is certain it is complete, and the entity has the correct and necessary supporting documents. BEA may, but is not required to, request clarification if information provided is incomplete or missing.
  
  If the entity has not received notice of an award, it may file a corrected application if it becomes aware of an error. Please notify BEA immediately if a second application is filed, as the original application may already be under review.
  
  The corrected application must contain all of the information that the entity wants considered, even if it was otherwise correct in an earlier application.
  
  BEA will assume that the application filed last in time is the most complete and process the last in time application accordingly, up until notice of an award/decision is sent by BEA.
  
  BEA will not add documents to a submitted application or change answers that have already been submitted.

• BEA will review submitted applications on a competitive basis, using the following 100-point scoring matrix:
  • (30) Financial hardship of the applicant and COVID-19 Impact
  • (25) Nature and size of identified need/expense
  • (20) Plan for use of funds and primary intent of the program
  • (15) General economic impact and job preservation/creation
  • (10) Location of applicant relative to regional diversity/reach of program funds
• As a result of the application, review, and scoring process, BEA may institute a cap or pro rata when issuing awards in order to adequately and effectively distribute available funding.

• Per the grant agreement between the awardee and BEA that will be entered into and authorized by Governor & Council, funding will be distributed to awardees on a reimbursement basis, following review of required supporting documentation.
  
  BEA may enable exceptions to this standard, if the financial hardship experienced by the awardee deems it appropriate.

• At its discretion, the BEA may facilitate more than one application and award round depending upon the availability of funding.

• Questions will be accepted during the application period and should be emailed to the program administrator at: ProgramApplications@livefree.nh.gov. Please include “PPM Program Question” in the subject line.

• Requests for reconsideration are permitted under the circumstances described below, and any such request must be submitted within 14 calendar days of receiving a notice of award or denial.
  • Contesting eligibility: Provide an explanation and evidence to substantiate the entity’s claim about why the applicant is actually eligible for the program.
  • Award determinations: Provide an explanation and evidence supporting that the calculation of the award, based on the information submitted in the application, was in error.
  • Application submission errors: Only obvious typographical errors can be corrected, such as misplacing a decimal point or transposing digits.
• Requests for reconsideration and relevant evidence must be submitted in writing electronically to ProgramApplications@livefree.nh.gov, with “PPM Program Reconsideration” in the subject line, within 14 calendar days of the date a notice of award or denial was sent by BEA.

• Yes. If the entity does not want this information to be made public, it should not submit a completed application.