The Biden Administration has opened applications for $3 billion in grants available for community economic development aimed at helping towns and neighborhoods promote long-term investment and growth opportunities in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.
“This is about real help for communities across the country as they rebuild,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press. “It’s about longer-term investments to help communities build themselves back from the bottom up in the ways that work best for them.”
The grants will be distributed based on the ability of the applicant to provide jobs and make a return on investment in human capital infrastructure, traditional infrastructure, job training and new industry development. The applicants will be selected based on specified involve job creation and racial and gender equity goals set by the administration.
According to Raimondo, $1 billion available for 20 to 30 regions to spend on projects that would rebuild their economies, as well as $750 million in grants targeted for travel, tourism and outdoor recreation. Ten percent of the funds are earmarked for places adversely affected by the decline of the coal industry. The rest of the funds will be spread over 20 to 30 communities who have experienced economic decline due to the coronavirus pandemic or other unforeseeable circumstances.