Park City Collaboration Awarded $25,000 Matching Grant from Partners for Places

Park City team is one of six cities awarded to focus on resilience and climate action.

PARK CITY, UT (May 20, 2020) – Park City Municipal Corporation, Park City Community Foundation, and the nonprofit Utah Clean Energy, have been awarded a highly competitive grant to help develop an equitable, community-wide implementation project to achieve Park City’s ambitious goal to be a carbon neutral community by 2030.

Park City has adopted North America’s most ambitious climate goals to become carbon neutral and power their community with 100% net renewable energy by 2030. To help achieve these goals, the Partners for Places grant will enable the development and implementation of “Deep Decarbonization of the Built Environment” project that specifically prioritizes significant greenhouse reductions in homes and buildings, which account for 57 percent of Park City’s community-wide carbon footprint.

The $25,000 grant is from Partners for Places, a project of the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities. Park City is among only six cities in the U.S. and Canada to receive this unique funding, which pairs local governments with community foundations to support sustainability projects. The Partners for Places grant was matched 1:1 by Park City Community Foundation’s Park City Climate Fund, for a total of $50,000.

“Park City has long recognized the importance of urgent climate leadership. The focus of this grant from Partners for Places is to develop policies and programs for rapid implementation to concretely reduce the emissions coming from the built environment. This will be a huge step to authentically and equitably evolve into an efficient and carbon-neutral community,” states Mayor Andy Beerman, Park City, Utah.

“We simply cannot turn the tide on climate change without directly addressing emissions from our homes and buildings. By working with the community and focusing on the built environment, we can seize an extraordinary opportunity to dramatically reduce emissions in Park City,” states Sarah Wright, Utah Clean Energy’s Executive Director.

The project will be developed with an emphasis on ensuring an equitable, transparent, and inclusive process. Park City Municipal, Park City Community Foundation, and Utah Clean Energy all recognize the critical need to meaningfully engage and include the community on strategies to achieve carbon reduction goals.

“Building equity and authentic community engagement into our strategies to combat climate change is at the heart our Partners for Places project,” states Katie Wright, Park City Community Foundation’s Executive Director.

About Park City Municipal Corporation: Park City Municipal Corporation is the government seat for Park City, Utah. A former silver mining town, Park City is now home to 8,000 residents, two world-class ski resorts, and was the mountain host for the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games. A municipal leader in sustainability, Park City has committed to one of North America’s most ambitious climate goals: to be net-zero carbon and run on 100% renewable electricity for city operations by 2022, and for the whole community by 2030. For more information, please visit www.parkcity.org.

About Park City Community Foundation: Park City Community Foundation plays a vital role in solving the most challenging problems in Park City. We care for and invest in our people, place, and culture by bringing together local nonprofits, donors, and community leaders to contribute financial resources and innovative ideas to benefit all the people of Park City—now and in the future. As the home of Live PC Give PC, Women’s Giving Fund, Solomon Fund, and other important initiatives, the Community Foundation has brought millions of dollars to the greater Park City community and Summit County. Learn more about donating, volunteering, fundraising and getting involved at parkcitycf.org.

About Utah Clean Energy: Utah Clean Energy is Utah’s leading, expert, public interest organization working to expand renewable energy and energy efficiency in a way that is beneficial not only for Utah’s environment and health, but our economy and long-term energy security. Utah Clean Energy is committed to creating a future that ensures healthy, thriving communities for all, empowered and sustained by clean energies such as solar, wind and energy efficiency. For more information visit www.utahcleanenergy.org.

About Partners for Places: Partners for Places is a successful matching grant program that creates opportunities for cities and counties to improve communities by building partnerships between local government sustainability offices and place-based foundations. National funders invest in local projects to promote a healthy environment, a strong economy, and well-being of all residents. Through these projects, Partners for Places fosters long-term relationships that make our urban areas more prosperous, livable, and vibrant. The grant program provides partnership investments between $25,000 and $75,000 for one-year projects, or $50,000 and $150,000 for two-year projects, with a 1:1 match required by one or more local foundations. Partners for Places’ general grant program is supported by The JPB Foundation, Kendeda Fund, The Kresge Foundation, New York Community Trust, the Pisces Foundation, The Summit Foundation, and Surdna Foundation. To date, Partners for Places has awarded nearly $7.4 million across North America in this successful matching grant program, leading to more than $16 million in investments.

Media Contact: Celia Peterson, Park City Municipal Environmental Sustainability Project Manager, celia.peterson@parkcity.org /435-287-5624.