To assist State and local interests design and implement
strategies to adjust or bring about change to an economy. Program focuses on
areas that have experienced or are under threat of serious structural damage
to the underlying economic base. Such economic change may occur suddenly or
over time, and generally results from industrial or corporate restructuring,
new Federal laws or requirements, reduction in defense expenditures, depletion
of natural resources, or natural disaster. Aids the long-range economic
development of areas with severe unemployment and low family income problems;
aids in the development of public facilities and private enterprises to help
create new, permanent jobs.
TYPES OF ASSISTANCE:
Project Grants. Place Cursor Here for Definition
USES AND USE RESTRICTIONS:
Strategy Grants help organize and carry out a planning
process resulting in a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS)
tailored to the community's specific economic problems and opportunities.
Implementation Grants support one or more activities identified in an EDA-approved
CEDS. Activities may include, but are not limited to, the creation/expansion
of strategically targeted business development and financing programs such as:
Revolving loan funds, infrastructure improvements, organizational development,
and market or industry research and analysis.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
Applicant Eligibility:
Eligible applicants include economic development districts; States, cities or
other political subdivisions of a State or a consortium of political
subdivisions; Indian tribes or a consortium of Indian tribes; institutions of
higher learning or a consortium of such institutions; or public or nonprofit
organizations or associations acting in cooperation with officials of a
political subdivision of a State. Applicants using EDA defense appropriations
are limited to defense-impacted areas. Applicants using EDA supplemental
disaster assistance will generally be restricted to disaster-impacted areas.
Beneficiary Eligibility:
Geographic areas, usually counties or groups of counties, which meet one of
the following criteria: 1) An unemployment rate that is, for the most recent
24 month period for which data are available, at least one percent greater
than the national average unemployment rate; 2) per capita income that is, for
the most recent period for which data are available, 80 percent or less of the
national per capita average income; or 3) a special need, as determined by EDA,
arising from actual or threatened severe unemployment or economic adjustment
problems resulting from severe short-term changes in economic conditions.
Special need criteria are listed in the Agency's annual NOFA.
Credentials/Documentation:
Applicants for assistance to develop a CEDS must identify the actual or
anticipated adjustment problem and indicate how the strategy will be
developed. Implementation grant applications must be consistent with an
approved CEDS.
Pre-application Coordination:
EDA's Economic Development Representative (EDR) or regional office
representative will meet with the proponent to determine whether preparation
of a project proposal is appropriate. If appropriate, the proponent will be
requested to prepare a brief project proposal according to an outline provided
by the EDR. Following a review by the EDR and Regional Office Staff, the
Regional Director will determine whether to invite a formal application. An
environmental impact assessment is necessary; an environmental impact
statement may also be required. This program is eligible for coverage under
E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." An
applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point
of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State
requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected
the program for review. The standard application forms as furnished by the
Federal agency and required by 15 CFR Part 24 must be used for this program.
Application Procedure: If
an application is invited by the regional office, an EDR or regional office
representative will provide necessary forms and assist in filling them out.
This program is subject to the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-110 and 15 CFR
Part 24.
Award Procedure: Final
decision on grant applications from eligible applicants is made by the
Regional Office Director of the Economic Development Administration,
Department of Commerce.
Deadlines: Dates are
published in the Federal Register.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time:
Normally within 120 days of acceptance of a fully completed application.
Appeals: None.
Renewals: None.
ASSISTANCE CONSIDERATIONS:
Formula and Matching Requirements:
EDA my generally fund 50 percent of a project's cost, however certain
conditions of high economic distress or an applicant's inability to provide
all of the matching share may permit a higher grant rate. Grant rate
requirements may be found in EDA's regulations at 13 CFR Chapter III.
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance:
None.
POST ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Reports: With the exception of
strategy grants, quarterly financial reports are required until one year after
final disbursement of funds. Reports on RLF grants are initially required
semi-annually but may be graduated to annual reports with the consent of the
agency. Grantees are also required to report on program performance and
project outcomes at intervals prescribed by the agency in compliance with GPRA
of 1993.
Audits: In accordance with
the provisions of OMB Circular No. A- 133 (Revised, June 24, 1997), recipients
that are States, Local Governments, Nonprofit Organizations (to include
Hospitals), and Institutions of Higher Learning shall be subject to the audit
requirements contained in the Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996 (31 U.S.C.
7501-7507). Commercial organizations shall be subject to the audit
requirements as stipulated in the award document. States, local governments,
and nonprofit governments that expend $300,000 or more in a year in Federal
awards shall have a single or program-specific audit conducted for that year.
Records: As necessary for
audit and as required by OMB Circular No. A-110 and 15 CFR Part 24. All
financial and programmatic records, supporting documents, statistical reports
and other records of grantees or sub grantees are required to be maintained by
the terms of the agreement. The grantee must retain records for 3 years after
completion of the project or submission of the final financial report,
whichever is later, and be readily available for inspection and audit.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION:
Account Identification:
13-2050-0-1-452.
Obligations: (Grants) FY 01
$145,770,353 (includes funds appropriated for economic adjustment, defense
adjustment, 1997 Floods, NE Fisheries, Alaska, Norton Sound Fishery and
Hurricane Floyd); FY 02 est $53,949 (includes funds for disaster supplementals);
and FY 03 est $40,900,000 (includes funds for economic adjustment only).
Range and Average of Financial Assistance:
No specific minimum or maximum.
13 CFR, Chapter 111, Part 308; Civil Rights Guidelines,
RLF Plan Guidelines, CEDS Guidelines, RLF Audit Guidelines, RLF Administrative
Manual and Standard Terms and Conditions; and program literature available
from Regional Offices.
INFORMATION CONTACTS:
Regional or Local Office:
Refer to Appendix IV of the Catalog for EDA regional office addresses.
Headquarters Office: David
F. Witschi, Director, Economic Adjustment Division, Economic Development
Administration, Room H7327, Herbert C. Hoover Building, Department of
Commerce, Washington DC 20230. Telephone: (202) 482-2659. Use the same number
for FTS.
Web Site Address: http://www.doc.gov/eda/
EXAMPLES OF FUNDED PROJECTS:
Grants received under the Economic Adjustment Program:
(1) develop strategy for recovery from plant closure and major permanent job
loss; (2) rehabilitate vacant industrial facility for multi-tenant use or as
an incubator; (3) establish revolving loan funds, and/or recapitalization of
revolving loan funds.
CRITERIA FOR SELECTING PROPOSALS:
All proposals and applications for funding submitted to
EDA are evaluated competitively for: 1) Conformance to statutory and
regulatory requirements; 2) relative severity of the economic problem of the
area; 3) quality of the scope of work proposed to address the problem; 4)
merits of the activity(ies) for which funding is requested; and 5) the ability
of the prospective applicant to carry out the proposed activity(ies).
Additional criteria in the project selection process will be reviewed, as
applicable, for: Strategy Grants: 1) Proper authority, mandate, and capacity
of the applicant to lead and manage the planning process and strategy
implementation; 2) representation of the public and private sectors in the
development of the strategy's objectives, which may include: public program
and service providers, trade and business associations, educational and
research institutions, community development corporations, minorities, labor,
low-income, etc; and 3) the proposed scope of work for the strategy focuses on
the structural economic problem(s) and includes provisions for undertaking
appropriate research and analysis to support a realistic, market-based,
adjustment strategy. Implementation Grants: 1) An understanding of the
economic problems being addressed; 2) an analysis of the economic sectors that
constitute the community's economic base, including particular strengths and
weaknesses that contribute to or detract from a community's current and
potential economic competitiveness; 3) strategic objectives that focus on
stimulating investment in new and/or existing economic activities that offer
good prospects for revitalization and growth; and 4) identified resources and
plans for coordinating such resources to implement the overall strategy. The
proposed project must also be identified as a necessary element of or
consistent with the strategy. Revolving Loan Fund Grants: 1) The need for a
new or expanded public financing tool to enhance other business assistance
programs and services targeting economic sectors and/or locations described in
the strategy; 2) the types of financing activities anticipated; and 3) the
capacity of the RLF organization to manage lending, create networks between
the business community and other financial providers, and contribute to the
adjustment strategy.
