By Spc. Amanda McBride
4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs Office
FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq — Iraqi shop owners received grant assistance Apr. 20 after proving the money would be put to good use renovating their businesses.
"Today we made final payments for microgrants to property owners in the Haswa area," said Maj. Eric Kerr, Company B, 415th Civil Affairs, attached to 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. Kerr also works with the brigade's embedded provincial reconstruction team.
Kerr said the grants were issued to stimulate economic growth. "It's basically an economic renaissance on that little area of Haswa."
Initial screenings for qualified store owners in Haswa were held in mid-March. Unlike most microgrants, the funds given to the 11 recipients were part of a grant matching program.
Kerr, a native of Chelsey, Texas, said the recipients got 25 percent of the funds up front, and after the progress of their renovations was checked, received the remainder.
Most grants requested were from medical personnel and doctors hoping to bring back pharmaceutical shops and doctor's offices to the community. Other types of grants were for a law office and a carpenter's store.
While the grants are small, they're significant to residents, said Kerr.
"It's important to them because it's a signal to the people of Haswa that things are returning to normal," Kerr said.