Grant

August 5 - 8, 2019

EDA announced 11 investments from August 5-8, 2019, totaling $5,573,702, which is matched by 5,365,543 in local investments. These investments include the following: (1) $1,443,702 in five Economic Adjustment Assistance projects to help communities design and implement strategies to adjust or bring about change to their economy in response to structural damage to their underlying economic base; which includes three projects for $1,017,887 that will help create 743 jobs and leverage $3,853,988 in private investment; (2) $3,700,000 in two Public Works projects to help communities revitalize, expand, and upgrade their physical infrastructure that will help create 215 jobs, save 500 jobs, and leverage $35,830,000 in private investment; (3) $350,000 in three Partnership Planning projects to support the development and implementation of the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy process; and (4) $80,000 in one Technical Assistance University Center project to make the varied and vast resources of universities available to the economic development practitioner community.
- $1,443,702 in five Economic Adjustment Assistance projects, matched by $674,038 in local investments, as follows:
  - $415,256 in Assistance to Coal Communities, matched by $415,256 in local investment, to Bismarck State College, Bismarck/Burleigh County, North Dakota, to support Bismarck State College in the expansion of additional lab and classroom space for innovative educational exploration that will address the hiring needs of the businesses within the community of Burleigh County. The project will help promote growth and economic development by increasing investment, employment, and economic diversity throughout a region that has been impacted by the decline in the coal industry. The grantee estimates that this investment will help create 475 jobs and leverage $2,000,000 in private investment.
  - $362,898, matched by $90,725 in local investment, to the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium, St. Johnsbury/Caledonia County, Vermont, to fund the electrical grid enhancement and weather forecasting resiliency project at the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium in the town of St. Johnsbury. The project will make infrastructure improvements needed to enhance regional public safety, add capacity to the regional Green Mountain Power system, and establish a business continuity center that local businesses can utilize during power outages in a designated Opportunity Zone. Once completed, the project will strengthen economic development throughout the region. The grantee estimates that this investment will help create 8 jobs and leverage $153,988 in private investment.
  - $239,733, matched by $59,932 in local investment, to the University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage, Alaska, to fund a multi-faceted effort by the University of Alaska Anchorage, to provide training and technical assistance to tribal projects, with an emphasis on tourism development, in Alaska. Once completed, this project will increase business productivity, spur innovation and entrepreneurship, create jobs, and promote long-term regional competitiveness and economic diversification in an underserved region. The grantee estimates that this investment will help create 260 jobs and leverage $1,700,000 in private investment.
  - $213,315, matched by $55,000 in private investment, to the International Economic Development Council, Washington, DC, to fund the hiring of certified economic development coordinators to manage recovery efforts in disaster-impacted areas throughout the state of North Carolina. This amendment will match and deploy technical assistance professionals with communities to bring together regional planning efforts. Once in place, these professionals will create an economic development roadmap to strengthen regional economies, increase resiliency, encourage private capital investment, and create jobs.
  - $212,500 in Assistance to Coal Communities, matched by $53,125 in local investment, to Milam County, Cameron/Milam County, Texas, to support Milam County with establishing a county-wide economic development strategic plan, to use as a roadmap to economic diversification that will allow the county to rebound from the closing of a local coal mine that brought significant job losses to the region. Once completed, the plan will allow the county to complete an asset mapping process and develop a regional marketing strategy that will help to increase regional capacity to work with industries targeted in their business recruitment and expansion efforts, which will help attract private investments, boost businesses and grow jobs throughout the region.
- $3,700,000 in two Public Works projects, matched by $4,216,074 in local investment, as follows:
  - $3,000,000, matched by $3,916,074 in local investment, to the City of Pasco, Pasco/Franklin County, Washington, to fund construction of dual force mains and a pump station to increase capacity to serve additional food processors at Pasco’s Process Water Use Facility in a designated Opportunity Zone in Franklin County, Washington. The improvements will enable companies to expand their existing businesses and accommodate future business development, which will attract private investments, create jobs, and diversify the local economy. The grantee estimates that this investment will help create 200 jobs, save 500 jobs, and leverage $35,830,000 in private investment.
  - $700,000, matched by $300,000 in local investment, to the Town of Laguna Vista and the Laguna Madre Water District, Laguna Vista/Cameron County, Texas, to fund the expansion of a wastewater system in a designated Opportunity Zone in Cameron County, Texas. This project provides hardened infrastructure in an underserved community to encourage economic growth and to promote tourism industry resiliency, which will create jobs throughout the region. The grantees estimate that this investment will help create 15 jobs.
- $350,000 in three Partnership Planning projects, matched by $350,000 in local investment, to support the development and implementation of the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) process. The CEDS process is designed to bring together the public and private sectors in the creation of an economic development roadmap to diversify and strengthen the regional economy.
- $80,000 in one Technical Assistance University Center project, matched by $125,431 in local investment, to support the fourth year of a five-year University Center (UC) program, which is a competitively-based partnership between EDA and academic institutions that makes the varied and vast resources of universities available to the economic development practitioner community.