Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Commerce

Description: The Public Works Program provides catalytic investments to help distressed communities build, design, or engineer critical infrastructure and facilities that will help implement regional development strategies and advance bottom-up economic development goals to promote regional prosperity. Investments made through this program must clearly lead to the creation or retention of long-term high-quality jobs.

The Economic Adjustment Assistance Program provides investments that support a wide range of construction and non-construction activities including infrastructure, design and engineering, technical assistance, economic recovery strategies, and capitalization or re-capitalization of Revolving Loan Funds (RLF) in regions experiencing severe economic dislocations that may occur suddenly or over time. Additionally, this program provides resources for communities experiencing or anticipating economic dislocations to plan and implement specific solutions to leverage their existing regional economic advantages to support economic development and job creation. These investments are designed to help communities catalyze public-private partnerships to foster collaboration, attract investment, create jobs, and foster economic resiliency and prosperity.

Eligible applicants:

• Special district governments
• Public and state-controlled institutions of higher education
• Federally recognized Tribes
• City or township governments
• State governments
• Non-profit entities that have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS (other than institutions of higher education)
• Non-profit entities that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS (other than institutions of higher education)
• County governments
• Private institutions of higher education

Eligible activities:

• For the Public Works Program, examples of eligible activities include projects supporting water and sewer system improvements, industrial parks, high-tech shipping and logistics facilities, workforce training facilities, business incubators and accelerators, brownfield redevelopment, technology-based facilities, wet labs, multi-tenant manufacturing facilities, science and research parks, and telecommunications infrastructure and development facilities.
• For the Economic Adjustment Assistance Program, examples of eligible activities include projects supporting the creation of an economic diversification strategy to promote and enhance the growth of emerging industries or a city constructing a publicly-owned multi-tenant business and industrial facility to house early-stage businesses.

For examples of previously funded grants, visit HERE.

Award ceiling (MAX): $30 million

Award floor (MIN): $100,000

FY 2020 Funding Availability: $185.5 million*

*The CARES Act includes an additional $1.5 billion for this program. Additionally, EDA received $587 million in FY 2018 disaster supplemental funding to assist communities impacted by disasters in 2017 and $587 million in FY 2019 disaster supplemental funding to assist communities impacted by disasters in 2018-2019. The award floor for both disaster supplemental funding opportunities is $0.

CARES Act Funding Availability: $1.46 billion*

*EDA is using the same Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for both the FY 2020 Public Works and Economic Adjustment Assistance programs and the CARES Act supplemental funding. However, EDA has provided greater flexibility under the CARES Act supplemental funding which is described in the FY 2020 NOFO Addendum.

View the Addendum HERE.

Application cycle: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and processed as received.

Special considerations:

• Generally, EDA requires at least a 50% (1:1) match. Some projects may receive up to 80% of the total project amount based on the relative needs of the region (as determined by EDA).
  • EDA’s maximum investment rate (percent of the total project cost) is determined by the average per capita income or unemployment rate of the region in which the project is located.
  • In rare cases, EDA may increase their investment rate up to 100%. EDA’s Grants Officer in the appropriate Regional Office will consider on a case-by-case basis whether the circumstances of the proposed project warrant an investment in excess of 80%.
• EDA investment priorities include: (1) Recovery & Resilience, (2) Critical Infrastructure, (3) Workforce Development & Manufacturing, (4) Exports & Foreign Direct Investment, and (5) Opportunity Zones.
• Except for a “Strategy Grant,” each project funded under these programs must be consistent with the region’s current Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) or equivalent EDA-accepted regional economic development strategy that meets EDA’s CEDS or strategy requirements.
  • A “Strategy Grant” is awarded to applicants to develop, update, or refine a CEDS that alleviates long-term economic deterioration or a sudden and severe economic dislocation.
• A portion of Economic Adjustment Assistance Program funding is used to support communities and regions that have been negatively impacted by changes in the coal economy.

More information: https://www.eda.gov/funding-opportunities/

Who can tell me more?

Contact the EDA Representative assigned to your state for guidance related to your specific community.

To apply: Visit HERE