Feds Announce $3 Billion Economic Development Initiative

US Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo announced that the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) will implement a series of programs, collectively called Investing in America’s Communities. This historic investment, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, will support bottom-up, middle-out economic development focused on advancing equity, creating good-paying jobs, helping workers to develop in-demand skills, building economic resilience, and accelerating the economic recovery for the industries and communities hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.

Investing in America’s Communities includes:

  • Build Back Better Regional Challenge ($1 billion)
  • Good Jobs Challenge ($500 million)
  • Economic Adjustment Assistance Challenge ($500 million)
  • Indigenous Communities Challenge ($100 million)
  • Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Grants ($750 million)
  • Statewide Planning, Research, and Networks Grants ($90 million)

“With an emphasis on equity, EDA’s investments made possible by the American Rescue Plan will directly benefit communities that have been denied full access to economic prosperity and who have been disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic,” said Secretary Raimondo. “We will work with local communities across the country on innovative new approaches to ensure that we can increase American competitiveness by strengthening our workforce, businesses, and communities and build back better in regions across the country.”

The US Department of Commerce will release Notices of Funding Opportunities for each challenge shortly. All EDA American Rescue Plan funds must be awarded by September 2022.

Visit the US Department of Commerce website for more information.

At the MACo Summer Conference, an expert panel will discuss issues the role counties play in fostering a swift, sustainable turnaround in an economy that looks significantly different than it did before the pandemic.

The “Economic Development – Taking Care of Business Post Pandemic ” session, hosted by the Maryland Economic Development Association, will be held Friday, August 20, 2021, from 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm.

The MACo Summer Conference will be held August 18-21 at the Roland Powell Convention Center in Ocean City, Maryland. This year’s theme is “Resilient. Responsive…Ready.”

Learn more about MACo’s Summer Conference: