Press Release

U.S. Department of Commerce Invests $750,000 in CARES Act Recovery Assistance to Provide Technical Assistance to Small and Disadvantaged Businesses in Alabama

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $750,000 CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to Trufund Financial Services, Inc., Birmingham, Alabama, to provide coronavirus recovery and resiliency technical assistance to small and historically disadvantaged minority and women-owned businesses throughout the state. This EDA grant will be matched with $187,500 in local investment.

“The Economic Development Administration is committed to helping communities across the nation implement strategies to mitigate economic hardships brought on by the coronavirus pandemic,” said Dennis Alvord, Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development. “This EDA investment will provide support to small and disadvantaged businesses in Baldwin, Mobile, Montgomery, Madison, Limestone, Morgan, and Tuscaloosa counties owned and operated by women and people of color to assist their recovery and help them build back better from the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.”

This project is funded under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (Public Law 116-136 PDF), which provided EDA with $1.5 billion for economic assistance programs to help communities prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance, which is being administered under the authority of the bureau’s flexible Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) (PDF) program, provides a wide-range of financial assistance to eligible communities and regions as they respond to and recover from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

About the U.S. Economic Development Administration (www.eda.gov)
The mission of the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is to lead the federal economic development agenda by promoting competitiveness and preparing the nation's regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy. An agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, EDA invests in communities and supports regional collaboration in order to create jobs for U.S. workers, promote American innovation, and accelerate long-term sustainable economic growth.