Federal Assistance for Economic Development

A core objective for Economic Development Integration at EDA, is to increase your access to the most relevant federal resources that support job creation, drive innovation and entrepreneurship, and build resilient regional economies. This page offers resources to help communities across the US to more readily identify and apply for the federal economic development resources that best support their local priorities and objectives.

In addition to funding opportunities available through EDA, the websites, tools and partner organizations listed below provide a wealth of financial and technical assistance opportunities available from other federal agencies that can be leveraged with local and private resources to ensure projects reach the scale and impact necessary to assist distressed areas, and to provide long term benefits for the entire region.

Check out these current opportunities from our federal partners:

EDA funding opportunities are just the tip of the iceberg regarding federal resources that can support a comprehensive regional strategy. A full range of funding opportunities can be found at the following sites, which are arranged from the most comprehensive online resources (i.e. Grants.gov and the CFDA), to more targeted resources including EDA’s own set of funding opportunities, many of which are open now. See below for more information on the following pages that list resources from more general, to those specifically targeted to economic development:

Federal Assistance Listings (SAM)

As an entity looking for federal assistance for your economic development project, you can conduct your preliminary planning using the U.S. Government’s official site that hosts its System for Awards Management (SAM). The SAM database integrates ten previously separate systems for federal procurement and grant awards in single location.

Browse SAM for assistance listings across all government agencies to form a “big picture” of your funding options. Enter a keyword or agency name to browse listing, and select filters to narrow results by type of applicant or assistance (grant, loan, etc.). Each listing is associated with a unique five digit CFDA (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance) number. Once you identify a federal assistance listing that you’re interested in, you can link directly to grant opportunities on Grants.gov or follow up with that specific agency using the contact information provided.

SAM Assistance Listings website: https://beta.sam.gov/search?index=cfda

Current Federal Funding Opportunities (Grants.gov)

The Grants.gov website provides a brief description of all federal grant-making agencies, and lists currently available funding opportunities that can be sorted by category, eligibility, due date and other key criteria.

• Search Grants.gov

Matrix of Federal Resources for Economic Development

The volume of programs and variety of agencies, and different requirements can frustrate even the most resourceful applicant. We have identified over 130 federal programs, currently listed in the CFDA, that offer grants, technical assistance or other support that can support different aspects of economic development - in areas ranging from entrepreneurship to infrastructure, workforce development to transportation, trade promotion to capital access, and strategic planning to research and development.

These offerings are arranged in a matrix to help you identify which of these offerings may be best for project funding vs. technical assistance, organizational vs. individual assistance, and for the particular type of activities that your region seeks to implement. A new column has been added to identify programs that currently offer preference, flexibility or other targeting for Qualified Opportunity Zones. Use the filter function to sort the listings by column heading, click on the CDFA number to read the program overview at www.beta.sam.gov, and visit the program office link for funding availability, contacts and additional information.

• Matrix of selected federal programs that can assist economic development strategies (XLSX)

The EDI team welcomes your updates or additions to this beta version of the matrix. Send us your feedback at [email protected]

EDA Funding Opportunities

EDA accepts applications on a rolling basis for its Public Works (PW) and Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) grant programs, which provide grant funding for infrastructure, facilities, planning, feasibility studies, and similar projects to improve regional economies. Other EDA funding opportunities, such Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS), have specific application deadlines.

• EDA’s Funding Opportunities
• EDA Program Information

Contact EDA

EDA staff maintain collaborative relationships with interagency colleagues in regional and local offices of federal agencies whose programs complement the broad-based economic development strategies that EDA stakeholders pursue in rural and urban areas across the country.

• How to reach an EDA Regional Office representative near you
• For assistance with interagency collaboration at the national level, contact the Economic Development Integration team at EDA’s headquarters in Washington, DC: [email protected].

How Can We Improve This Page? Let Us Know!

The EDI team is always looking for opportunities to update and improve the federal economic development resources featured on this page. Please help us make sure that the information we post is consistently useful to your organizations, communities and regions. If you have ideas or updated content you would like us to include here, please contact us at [email protected].