Last week, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo announced $3 billion in funding opportunities to invest in distressed and underserved communities impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. 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. This includes commercial and recreational fishing and aquaculture, and the businesses and communities that depend on them.
The Department’s Economic Development Administration will implement a series of programs, collectively called Investing in America’s Communities, to equitably invest in infrastructure innovation and workforce training to create good-paying American jobs and strengthen our nation’s global economic competitiveness.
The six innovative challenges include:
- 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)