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Federal Assistance for Economic Development

A core objective for Economic Development Integration at EDA, is to increase your access to the most relevant federal resources that support job creation, drive innovation and entrepreneurship, and build resilient regional economies. This page offers resources to help communities across the US to more readily identify and apply for the federal economic development resources that best support their local priorities and objectives.

In addition to funding opportunities available through EDA, the websites, tools and partner organizations listed below provide a wealth of financial and technical assistance opportunities available from other federal agencies that can be leveraged with local and private resources to ensure projects reach the scale and impact necessary to assist distressed areas, and to provide long term benefits for the entire region.

Check out these current opportunities from our federal partners:

Upcoming Deadlines -- Featured Federal Funding Opportunities

See below for a selection of funding opportunities that may complement your region’s economic development strategies. For more detail or to apply, open the Grants.gov search field and enter the Opportunity Number shown here:

Opportunity Number Opportunity Title Agency Posted Closes
Innovation, Entrepreneurship, & Business Assistance USDA-NIFA-SLBCD-007772 Assistive Technology Program USDA 1/13/21
Industry/Sector 20210114-PG Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions National Endowment for Humanities 1/14/21
Workforce Development HRSA-21-020 Nursing Workforce Diversity (NWD) Program HHS 1/19/21
Innovation, Entrepreneurship, & Business Assistance USDA-FS-WERC-2021 2021 Wood Innovations Funding Opportunity USDA 1/20/21
Innovation, Entrepreneurship, & Business Assistance DE-FOA-0002196 Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) - 2020 DOE 1/20/21
Workforce Development USDA-NIFA-HSI-007752 Hispanic-Serving Institutions Education Grants Program USDA 1/28/21
Infrastructure DHS-20-MT-047-00-99 FY20 Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities DHS-DHS 1/29/21
Disaster Assistance DHS-20-MT-029-000-99 FY20 Flood Mitigation Assistance DHS 1/29/21
Workforce Development PAR-21-034 NIDDK Education Program Grants (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) NIH 1/31/21
Innovation, Entrepreneurship, & Business Assistance USDA-FS-COMMUNITY-WOOD-2021 Community Wood Energy and Wood Innovation Program USDA 2/3/21
Workforce Development USDA-NIFA-SAECP-007855 Secondary Education, Two-Year Postsecondary Education, and Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom Challenge Grants Program (SPECA) USDA 2/4/21
Workforce Development FOA-ETA-21-01 Workforce Pathways for Youth grant program DOL 2/4/2021
Workforce Development FOA-ETA-21-04 YouthBuild DOL 2/9/2021
Workforce Development NOAA-NMFS-AK-2021-2006616 FY 2021 Alaska Native Organization Co-Management Funding Program DOC 2/12/21
Workforce Development USDA-NIFA-RIGP-007856 Resident Instruction Grants Program for Institutions of Higher Education in Insular Areas USDA 2/15/21
Workforce Development DE-FOA-0002421 Early Career Research Program DOE 2/16/21
Workforce Development USDA-NIFA-AHSI-007832 Alaska Native-Serving and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions Education Competitive Grants Program (ANNH) USDA 2/17/21
Disaster Assistance RFA-GH-21-004 Conducting Research to Inform Pandemic Response and Recovery of Emergency-Affected Populations by Determining Public Health Needs, Improving Methods, and Integrating Services to Mitigate Morbidity and Mortality (DISASTER RESOURCES) HHS 2/18/21
Planning & Technical Assistance 21-542 Build and Broaden 2.0: Enhancing Social, Behavioral and Economic Science Research and Capacity at Minority-Serving Institutions NSF 3/5/21
Planning & Technical Assistance USDA-NIFA-CGP-007858 Higher Education Challenge (HEC) Grants Program USDA 3/18/21
Infrastructure N/A Rural Energy for America Program Renewable Energy Systems & Energy Efficiency Improvement Guaranteed Loans & Grants USDA 3/21/21
Innovation, Entrepreneurship, & Business Assistance N/A Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP) USDA 3/31/2021
Infrastructure DOTBAB202012 Regional Infrastructure Accelerators DOT 3/31/2021
Workforce Development TAP-2021 OIA Technical Assistance Program DOI 4/1/21
Planning & Technical Assistance EPA-OLEM-OBLR-20-08 Technical Assistance to Brownfields Communities EPA 10/30/21
Workforce Development HHS-2020-IHS-UIHP3-0002 Urban Indian Education and Research Program, Competing Supplement HHS 11/6/21
Workforce Development -2021-ACL-NIDILRR-ARHF-0009 Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training (ARRT) Program - Health and Function HHS 12/18/21
Workforce Development HHS-2021-ACL-NIDILRR-ARCP-0005 Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training (ARRT) Program - Community Living and Participation HHS 12/18/21
Workforce Development HHS-2021-ACL-NIDILRR-AREM-0007 Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training (ARRT) Program - Employment HHS 12/18/21
Infrastructure NOAA-NFA-NFAPO-2021-2006626 FY2021 to FY2023 NOAA Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) DOC-NOAA 9/30/23
Planning & Technical Assistance N/A Cybersecurity Education Diversity Initiative (CEDI) DOD Open
Workforce Development PWEAA2020 FY 2020 EDA Public Works and Economic Adjustment Assistance Programs (Includes CARES Act Addendum) DOC-EDA Open
Disaster Assistance EDA-2019-DISASTER FY 2019 EDA Disaster Supplemental DOC-EDA Open

EDA funding opportunities are just the tip of the iceberg regarding federal resources that can support a comprehensive regional strategy. A full range of funding opportunities can be found at the following sites, which are arranged from the most comprehensive online resources (i.e. Grants.gov and the CFDA), to more targeted resources including EDA’s own set of funding opportunities, many of which are open now. See below for more information on the following pages that list resources from more general, to those specifically targeted to economic development:

Federal Assistance for Economic Development graphic showing structure listed in order below

Federal Assistance Listings (SAM)

As an entity looking for federal assistance for your economic development project, you can conduct your preliminary planning using the U.S. Government’s official site that hosts its System for Awards Management (SAM). The SAM database integrates ten previously separate systems for federal procurement and grant awards in single location.

Browse SAM for assistance listings across all government agencies to form a “big picture” of your funding options. Enter a keyword or agency name to browse listing, and select filters to narrow results by type of applicant or assistance (grant, loan, etc.). Each listing is associated with a unique five digit CFDA (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance) number. Once you identify a federal assistance listing that you’re interested in, you can link directly to grant opportunities on Grants.gov or follow up with that specific agency using the contact information provided.

SAM Assistance Listings website: https://beta.sam.gov/search?index=cfda

Current Federal Funding Opportunities (Grants.gov)

The Grants.gov website provides a brief description of all federal grant-making agencies, and lists currently available funding opportunities that can be sorted by category, eligibility, due date and other key criteria.

Matrix of Federal Resources for Economic Development

The volume of programs and variety of agencies, and different requirements can frustrate even the most resourceful applicant. We have identified over 130 federal programs, currently listed in the CFDA, that offer grants, technical assistance or other support that can support different aspects of economic development - in areas ranging from entrepreneurship to infrastructure, workforce development to transportation, trade promotion to capital access, and strategic planning to research and development.

These offerings are arranged in a matrix to help you identify which of these offerings may be best for project funding vs. technical assistance, organizational vs. individual assistance, and for the particular type of activities that your region seeks to implement. A new column has been added to identify programs that currently offer preference, flexibility or other targeting for Qualified Opportunity Zones. Use the filter function to sort the listings by column heading, click on the CDFA number to read the program overview at www.beta.sam.gov, and visit the program office link for funding availability, contacts and additional information.

The EDI team welcomes your updates or additions to this beta version of the matrix. Send us your feedback at [email protected]

EDA Funding Opportunities

EDA accepts applications on a rolling basis for its Public Works (PW) and Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) grant programs, which provide grant funding for infrastructure, facilities, planning, feasibility studies, and similar projects to improve regional economies. Other EDA funding opportunities, such Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS), have specific application deadlines.

Contact EDA

EDA staff maintain collaborative relationships with interagency colleagues in regional and local offices of federal agencies whose programs complement the broad-based economic development strategies that EDA stakeholders pursue in rural and urban areas across the country.

How Can We Improve This Page? Let Us Know!

The EDI team is always looking for opportunities to update and improve the federal economic development resources featured on this page. Please help us make sure that the information we post is consistently useful to your organizations, communities and regions. If you have ideas or updated content you would like us to include here, please contact us at [email protected].

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