Economic Adjustment Assistance
The Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) (PDF) program is EDA’s most flexible program; it provides a wide range of technical, planning, and public works and infrastructure assistance in regions experiencing adverse economic changes that may occur suddenly or over time. These adverse economic impacts may result from a steep decline in manufacturing employment following a plant closure, changing trade patterns, catastrophic natural disaster, a military base closure, or environmental changes and regulations. The EAA program can assist state and local entities in responding to a wide range of economic challenges through: (1) Strategy Grants to support the development, updating or refinement of a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) and (2) Implementation Grants to support the execution of activities identified in a CEDS (or equivalent), such as infrastructure improvements, including site acquisition, site preparation, construction, rehabilitation and equipping of facilities. Specific activities may be funded as separate investments or as multiple elements of a single investment.
Under EAA, EDA can also fund market and environmental studies, planning or construction grants, and capitalize or recapitalize Revolving Loan Funds (RLFs) to help provide small businesses with the capital they need to grow.
EDA also runs specific programs under the EAA program including:
- Disaster Relief and Recovery: to meet expenses related to flood mitigation, disaster relief, long-term recovery, and restoration of infrastructure in areas that received a major disaster designation in calendar year 2018, and tornadoes and floods occurring in calendar year 2019.
- SPRINT Challenge: to support the development, creation, or expansion of programs that accelerate technology-based economic development and respond to the challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
- Coronavirus Aid, Relief, And Economic Security (CARES) Act 2020: to provide a wide-range of financial assistance to communities and regions as they respond to and recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- American Rescue Plan Act 2021: to provide larger, more transformational investments across the nation while utilizing its greatest strengths, including flexible funding to support community-led equitable economic development