HAMPTON -- The state Executive Council signed off last month on Hampton receiving a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant to aid Foss Manufacturing in producing its environmentally friendly non-woven material.

Selectmen voted in November to sponsor the grant application to the Community Development Finance Authority on behalf of Foss and the Coastal Economic Development Corporation (CEDC). Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) are available to towns for economic development, public facility and housing rehabilitation projects and feasibility studies that primarily benefit low- and moderate-income persons.

Once the town receives the grant, the town will retain $17,000 for administration costs and sub-grant the remaining funds to the CEDC.

The CEDC would then use the funds to loan $475,000 to Foss Manufacturing. Foss officials said they would use the money, along with its own, to purchase new equipment to allow it to produce more products and expand its operation.

As part of the agreement, Foss will be responsible to pay back the loan to CEDC, which will use the money to help other businesses on the Seacoast. The company will also create an additional 25 jobs, of which 60 per-cent will be available to people with low or moderate incomes.