About
It is expected that Congress will pass and President Biden will sign into law the American Rescue Plan in the coming weeks. This stimulus bill would deliver an additional $3 billion to the U.S. Economic Development Administration for their Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) program. In comparison, the CARES Act provided an additional $1.5 billion to EDA. We expect the requirements and funding priorities will be similar to the CARES Act funding announced mid-2020.
In order to provide our region with the greatest chance to receive Economic Adjustment Assistance funds, we are opening the application process today. We will follow the same application process that we created for the CARES Act funding. Projects should be a good fit with both the Economic Development Administration’s funding priorities and the region’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS).
Eligible applicants include:
- Tribal governments
- State and local governments
- Institutions of higher education
- Nonprofits acting in cooperation with officials of a political subdivision of Michigan
The Southwest Michigan Planning Commission is designated by the U.S. Economic Development Administration as the Economic Development District for Berrien, Cass and Van Buren Counties.
Project Selection Process
Due to the scale of funding, the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission has developed a more robust project identification and selection process in order to advance the region's strongest project proposals to the EDA grant application.
Project Selection Process Document
2018 -2022 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy with Addendum
Scoring Rubric (used by CEDS Committee Members)
Call for Projects
The second round of applications is now open and will be due Friday, August 13, 2021 at 5pm. Please use the Project Submission Form to submit projects to burduej@swmpc.org. It is highly recommended that you schedule a virtual meeting to discuss your project and application before submission, email Jerrid Burdue at burduej@swmpc.org.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which projects have been awarded with EDA CARES Act funding?
While the Chicago Region has yet to award any competitive grants, several projects are pending. Here is a list of projects nation-wide that have received funding. Please note that each EDA region has a slightly different evaluation process.
What does EDA mean by "prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus" or respond to "economic injury as a result of coronavirus"?
The connection to the coronavirus does not need to be specific, rather discuss how your project acknowledges the pandemic and how it responds to it. For example, if your community's tourism sector has been decimated by COVID and the proposed project addresses economic recovery in the tourism sector, the connection has been made. As with EDA's normal funding opportunities, they are looking for one or more of their investment priorities be met.
What about project costs?
For construction projects, EDA recommends the project cost be at least $500,000 with $2-3 million being the maximum funding requested. For non-construction, projects should generally be at least $25,000.
What are the local share expectations?
Under EDA's CARES Act funding, they have decreased the required local share to 20% of total eligible project costs. Federal/local cost sharing has not been finalized for the new funding opportunity. However, a greater local share would make the project more competitive. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) has started a program to help with the local share amount. Information on this can be found on the right side of the page.
Where can I find more information about the goals and objects in the CEDS?
Regional economic development goals and objectives can be found in the 2018 - 2022 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy with Addendum. The scoring rubric the CEDS Committee uses, evaluates how well proposed projects match with these goals and objectives so please review the document carefully.
Questions or need assistance?
Jerrid Burdue, Associate Planner
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