The Department of Commerce recently launched a Recompete Pilot Program, aimed at closing the employment gap in targeted communities.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA), recently launched the Distressed Area Recompete Pilot Program (Recompete) competition.
The Recompete Pilot Program will invest $200 million toward projects that spur economic activity in geographically diverse and persistently distressed communities nationwide. Specifically, this program targets areas where prime-age (25-54 years) employment significantly trails the national average. The program aims to close this gap through by utilizing EDA’s place-based approach and delivering large, highly flexible grants based on community-driven strategies to address unique workforce and economic development needs of individual communities or regions.
The Recompete program will be run through two phases. Today, the Department is launching the first phase, a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), which invites applicants to apply for (1) Strategy Development Grants, (2) approval of a Recompete Plan, or (3) both. In Phase 2, regions with approved Recompete Plans will be invited to apply for significant implementation funding.
Eligible applicants include local and state governments, Tribal governments, political subdivisions of a State or other entity, non-profits, Economic Development Districts, and coalitions of any of these entities that serve or are contained within an eligible geographic area. To support applicants in determining if they are in an Eligible Area, EDA, in partnership with Argonne National Laboratory, has released the Recompete Eligibility Mapping Tool (Mapping Tool). Please click here to access the Tool, which includes a user-friendly map and instructional video.
Announcement of Phase 1 winners and the release of the Phase 2 NOFO is expected in winter 2023, and applicants with approved Recompete Plans will be invited to submit a Phase 2 application.
EDA concluded a Request for Information (RFI) and Tribal Consultation in March 2023. Aggregated findings from these processes can be found here: RFI and Tribal Consultation.
Read more about Recompete and the first funding opportunity at EDA.gov.
