Grant

January 7 - 11, 2013

$1.803 million in 2012 Disaster Recovery Relief Opportunity funds to the Vermont Council on Rural Development, Montpelier, Vermont, to support the Vermont Digital Economy Project, an initiative focused on integrating online tools into rural business strategies, community development, and economic development efforts within twenty-five Vermont communities. In the wake of Tropical Storm Irene, 225 of Vermont’s 251 communities incurred significant damage to public infrastructure and numerous communities were physically cut off from services for days. This disruption was magnified by the fact that many businesses in the state had not been able to establish an online presence prior to the storm due to the lack of broadband infrastructure in areas with low population density. This project will provide for the delivery of business support services, deployment of small scale wireless internet infrastructure, distribution of information technology licenses, and expansion of Vermont’s networking services which will enhance the availability of reliable Internet services and enable small businesses in rural regions to be more resilient to future disruptions. This investment is part of a $2,268,175 project.
$1 million in 2012 Disaster Recovery Relief Opportunity funds to the US Virgin Island Government-Economic Development Authority, St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John, Virgin Islands, to support the establishment of an incubator program to assist small businesses and emerging entrepreneurs across the US Virgin Islands. Significant damage sustained during Tropical Storms Otto and Tomas reinforced the need for improved economic resiliency in the Territory. With a focus on growing sustainable businesses, the new incubator will target the professional service, food and agribusiness, tourism, e-commerce and information technology industries. By offering technical assistance on the establishment, operation and administration of small businesses, as well as grants, training and mentoring services to encourage increased entrepreneurial activities, this project will strengthen and diversify the Territory’s economy and make it more resilient in future disasters. This investment is part of a $1.2 million project.
$800,000 in 2012 Disaster Recovery Relief Opportunity funds to the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) and the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) Research Foundation, Washington, DC, to support the development of a Regional Post-Disaster Recovery Program to provide technical assistance, training, peer-to-peer learning and mentoring, and best practice information dissemination to provide capacity building assistance to FY 2011 disaster-impacted communities within the Northeast. IEDC and NADO will help communities to identify economic recovery, resiliency and redevelopment strategies and efforts that have proven to be effective in other communities and assist individual communities to locate and access necessary resources and build capacity to maintain the momentum of long-term disaster recovery. This investment is part of a $1 million project.
$440,000 in 2012 Disaster Recovery Relief Opportunity funds to the US Virgin Island Government-Bureau of Economic Research, St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John, Virgin Islands, to support the development of a Comprehensive Post-Disaster Targeted Competitive Industry Study and Input-Output model, as well as updates the Territory’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy by incorporating resiliency strategies for private and public sector entities impacted by Hurricane Otto and Tropical Storm Tomas. The project will not only help the Territory recover from the storms’ devastation, but will also conduct an extensive reality-based assessment of the Virgin Islands’ economic, social and financial strengths and assets to attract and grow new industries to diversify the economy and stimulate growth in the impacted region. The project will assist the Territory become more economically resilient following future natural disasters. This investment is part of a $500,000 project.