July 4 - 7, 2022

EDA announced 43 investments from July 4-7, 2022, totaling $26,083,724, which is matched by $10,886,318 in local investments. These investments include the following: (1) $19,330,836 in 16 American Rescue Plan Economic Adjustment Assistance projects to assist communities nationwide in their efforts to respond to and recover from the devastating impacts to the economy caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which includes 11 projects for $17,092,444 that will help create 1,209 jobs, save 323 jobs, and leverage $127,680,000 in private investments; (2) $144,000 in one Economic Adjustment Assistance project to help communities design and implement strategies to adjust or bring about change to their economy in response to structural damage to their underlying economic base; (3) $3,500,000 in two Public Works projects to help communities revitalize, expand, and upgrade their physical infrastructure that will help create 379 jobs, save 219 jobs, and leverage $45,000,000 in private investments; (4) $2,153,888 in 19 Technical Assistance University Center projects to make the varied and vast resources of universities available to the economic development practitioner community; and (5) $955,000 in five Partnership Planning projects to support the development and implementation of the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy process.

• $19,330,836 in 16 American Rescue Plan projects, matched by $4,741,430 in local investments, as follows:
  • Seven Economic Adjustment Assistance Projects for $11,014,053 matched by $2,976,747 in local investments, to help communities nationwide plan, build, innovate, and put people back to work through infrastructure, technical assistance, planning, and revolving loan programs designed to meet their local needs.
    • $7,219,497, matched by $2,000,000 in local investment, to the Town of Islip/Suffolk County, Islip/Suffolk County (Project: Central Islip/Suffolk County), New York, to support the construction of three-quarters of a mile of 15-inch sewer pipe on the west side of Carleton Avenue from Suffolk County Sewer District 3 connection in Islip, New York. The new sewer will allow the development of a more diversified range of businesses and provide the capability to attract and build cornerstone businesses that are reliant on sewer connectivity to make a location viable. The development of restaurants, health care and manufacturing are reliant on the infrastructure this project creates. Once completed, the project will help promote new business creations, which will generate jobs, attract private investment, and help strengthen and diversify the regional economy. The grantees estimate that this investment will help create 106 jobs and leverage $8,000,000 in private investment.
    • $2,000,000, matched by $512,750 in local investment, to the City of West Monroe, West Monroe/Ouachita County, Louisiana, to support the city of West Monroe with replacing aging sewer infrastructure to provide modern infrastructure for local businesses and residents in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana. The project components include construction of the lift station equipped with monitoring and operating controls and a backup power generator, installation of piping, pumps, and electrical controls, construction of new manholes, force mains, and gravity sewer pipes that will connect to the existing system. Additionally, the project includes site clearing, parking areas, fencing, all-weather access driveways, and demolition of the old station. Once completed, the project will help strengthen and diversify the regional economy, which will attract private investment, create jobs, and support secondary business development throughout the region. The grantee estimates that this investment will help create 82 jobs, save 239 jobs, and leverage $15,100,000 in private investment.
    • $800,000, matched by $200,000 in local investment, to the Coastal Bend Council of Governments, Corpus Christi/Nueces County, Texas, to support the Coastal Bend Council of Governments with creating a Workforce and Economic Development program to support economic development in the Corpus Christi, Texas region. The project will provide targeted technical assistance to counties in the region to help communities develop and implement resiliency plans to increase economic opportunities in the area. Once completed, the project will provide economic stability, foster new private capital investment, partnerships, and job creation, while bolstering activity for existing businesses, to boost economic resiliency throughout the region. The grantee estimates that this investment will help create 619 jobs and leverage $20,000,000 in private investment.
    • $385,129, matched by $96,283 in local investment, to the University of Saint Francis, Fort Wayne/Allen County (Project: Crown Point/Lake County), Indiana, to support the purchase of medical training simulation equipment to expand their Crown Point campus’s capacity to train medical professionals in Lake County, Indiana. The professional positions expanded under this program are low-cost, generally open to the public, and in response to critical shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The training equipment will provide value to all levels of trainees, and the expanded training programs will be a source of future healthcare workers necessary to economic recovery and resilience throughout future disruptions, which will increase global competitiveness throughout the region.
    • $320,000, matched by $80,000 in local investment, to the City of Waterbury, Waterbury/New Haven County, Connecticut, to support the City of Waterbury’s Phase II/III Strategy, Planning, Design, and Implementation for Brass City Regional Food Hub, to lay the foundation for a new hub that will support opportunities for job growth and training as well as the development of economy supporting local infrastructure in Connecticut. The project places a heavy emphasis on stakeholder engagement and community support. Once completed, the project will help the region with recovery efforts from the COVID-19 pandemic, bolster job creation, spur private investment, and strengthen economic growth throughout the region. The grantee estimates that this investment will help create 25 jobs, save 25 jobs, and leverage $80,000 in private investment.
    • $209,427, matched by $52,714 in local investment, to the Museum of Science, Boston/Suffolk County, Massachusetts, to support the Museum of Science with conducting a feasibility study to develop a planning strategy for the creation of the missing pedestrian link to the entire surrounding business and tourism ecosystem at the Riverwalk at Science Park in Boston, Massachusetts. The project will play a leading role in helping the region’s economy recover from the COVID-19 pandemic by increasing visitation, spending, recreation, and educational opportunities between Boston and Cambridge, solidifying its status as a Life Sciences hub. Once completed, the study will help stabilize and increase the working population and boost resiliency of the local economy.
    • $80,000, matched by $35,000 in local investment, to the Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission, Culpeper/Culpeper County, Virginia, to support the Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission with establishing and implementing a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) for the Culpeper, Virginia region. The CEDS will help the region address the goal of identifying and formalizing common economic development goals and strategies and allowing each partner to consider unique opportunities within the context of the overall economic vision for the region, and will respond to challenges for businesses, and those issues that were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Once completed, the project will provide an economic development planning framework, process, and strategy that supports private capital investment and job creation in the region
  • One Indigenous Communities Project for $1,116,738, with no local match, to support the needs of Tribal Governments and Indigenous communities.
    • $1,116,738, with no local match, to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, Mashpee/Barnstable County, Massachusetts, to support the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Mashpee, Massachusetts with growing the Tribal aquaculture industry and blue economy by providing workforce training programs and creating jobs for the Mashpee Wampanoag Shellfish Farm. Once completed, the project will help the Tribe recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic by creating the potential for business growth and establishing a strong foundation for the Tribe’s economic development and job creation efforts. The grantee estimates that this investment will help create four jobs.
  • Five Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Projects for $3,537,180, matched by $986,920 in local investments, to help accelerate the recovery of the travel, tourism and outdoor recreation industry and build back the communities that depend on the industry.
    • $1,500,000, matched by $375,000 in local investment, to the City of South Padre Island/SPI Historical Foundation, South Padre Island/Cameron County, Texas, to support the City of South Padre Island, along with the SPI Historical Foundation, with constructing the Historical Museum of South Padre Island to support the local tourism industry by attracting new visitors to the city and its businesses in Texas. The project work consists of repurposing and renovating the existing 5,000 square foot visitor center for use as a Cultural, Heritage and Maritime Museum. The center will develop a work-and learn model that will allow University of Texas Rio Grande Valley students hands on learning as professional historians and curators and offering degrees in public heritage, multidisciplinary studies, and other related disciplines. This project also falls in line with the economic development policies identified in the South Padre Island Comprehensive Master Plan. As a cultural attraction that caters to residents, business owners and visitors encompassing youths, adults and senior citizens, this project spurs on the main industry of South Padre Island's local economy—tourism. As a regional attraction, the museum will result in increased tourism and day visitors, which will support the creation of jobs to help the region respond to damage to the travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation sectors from the coronavirus pandemic and boost the economic resilience of areas dependent on those industries. The grantees estimate that this investment will help create two jobs and leverage $1,200,000 in private investment.
    • $1,310,480, matched by $327,620 in local investment, to Davidson County, Lexington/Davidson County, North Carolina, to support the establishment of a new interpretive environmental center to provide tourists and outdoor recreation enthusiasts an opportunity to learn about the cultural and geologic history of the area. The center will connect tourists to the region’s travel and tourism amenities, and will offer a wide array of classes, camps, and programs to further attract tourists to Lexington, North Carolina. In addition, the project work will include related water and parking infrastructure to further support tourism growth in the area. The project will help boost the local tourism industry by bringing new visitors to the city, its businesses, and attractions, which will help increase employment opportunities, spur private investment, assist in the region's recovery, and advance economic resiliency throughout the region. The grantee estimates that this investment will help create 40 jobs and leverage $79,000,000 in private investment.
    • $319,000, matched by $79,800 in local investment, to the City of Havre de Grace, Havre de Grace/Hartford County, Maryland, to support the development of the Outdoor Recreation and Nature -Tourism Project, to include the construction/installation of a public boat pier/dock, the purchase of an EV tourism transportation vehicle with installation of EV charging stations, and the completion of Swan Harbor Trail in Harford, Maryland. The project will greatly facilitate day tourism with recreational boaters and is key to the city's recovery plan for water tourism. In addition, the project will allow nature trekkers an additional nature trail in Havre de Grace. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer visitors traveled to the region, which caused a downturn and loss of revenue across the state. The project will encourage new business ventures, create new jobs opportunities, spur private investment, and advance economic resiliency in the area. The grantee estimates that this investment will help create 15 jobs, save 15 jobs, and leverage $300,000 in private investment.
    • $277,500, matched by $74,500 in local investment, to the Rockford Area Convention and Visitors Center, Rockford/Winnebago County, Illinois, to support the Rockford Area Convention and Visitors Bureau with developing a Tourism and Destination Master Plan to support the recovery and resiliency of tourism in the greater Rockford area, including Boone and Winnebago Counties, Illinois. With stakeholder and public input, the Plan will assess, consider, and make recommendations related to items such as product analysis and asset assessment, visitor profiles and demographics, the overall regional tourism economy, destination performance, a future needs assessment, and recommendations for implementation. Once completed, the project will assist in the region's recovery and make it more resilient to fluctuations in tourism, which will help increase employment opportunities, spur private investment, and advance economic resiliency throughout the region.
    • $130,000, matched by $130,000 in local investment, to the Historic Pullman Foundation, Inc., Chicago/Cook County, Illinois, to support the Historic Pullman Foundation, Inc. with renovating and upgrading the Historic Pullman National Monument in Chicago, Illinois. The COVID-19 pandemic, and resulting drop in travel and tourism revenue, devastated the region’s tourism economy and left the Historic Pullman Foundation with the need to upgrade its facilities to recover and become more resilient in the face of future disasters. The improvements include upgrades to current exhibits as well as construction of new exhibits. In addition, the project will help with the Pullman Railroad Days event and associated media outreach. The additional visitors the Foundation expects to attract will help drive future economic growth in the region and allow the Foundation to capitalize on improvements completed in the summer of 2020 during pandemic-related closures. Once completed, the project will help strengthen tourism recovery from the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic in the area, which will help restore and retain existing jobs to build resiliency to withstand future economic disruptions. The grantee estimates that this investment will help create 25 jobs.
  • Three Coal Communities Commitment Projects for $3,662,865, matched by $777,763 in local investments, to support coal-reliant communities’ expansion into new industry sectors and recovery from the pandemic.
    • $2,500,000, matched by $625,000 in local investment to the City of Fairhope/Baldwin Community and Economic Development Foundation, Fairhope/Baldwin County, Alabama, to fund the renovation of a historical former school building to serve as a business resource hub for emerging technology entrepreneurs and companies in the city of Fairhope, Alabama. The project work will include demolition, remediation of existing walls, new interior partition walls, new roofing, new doors and windows, updated flooring, plumbing, HVAC, electrical, fire suppression, communications, and site work. The project will help the city respond to the economic injury as result of the coronavirus by providing a more diverse workforce in the area, which will diversify the economy and give the area's entrepreneurs the place and the resources to create high-paying, technology-related jobs, and advance economic resiliency to an area that has been impacted by the decline in the coal industry. The grantees estimate that this investment will help create 276 jobs and leverage $1,000,000 in private investment.
    • $993,265, matched by $110,363 in local investment, to the City of Carbondale, Carbondale/Jackson County, Illinois, to support the reconstruction of a portion of North McRoy Drive to support businesses in the Bicentennial Industrial Park in Illinois. The project will allow for an increase in heavy-weight traffic to accommodate expanded capacity at the industrial park. Once completed, the project will help the region recover from the coronavirus pandemic by creating new job opportunities, providing access to high-skill manufacturing jobs and necessary infrastructure to support business operations, and attracting private investment to an area that has been impacted by the decline in the coal industry. The grantee estimates that this investment will help create 15 jobs, save 44 jobs, and leverage $3,000,000 in private investment.
    • $169,600, matched by $42,400 in local investment, to the Muhlenberg County Fiscal Court, Greenville/Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, to support the Muhlenberg County Fiscal Court with developing a competitive and sustainable industrial park through a comprehensive master plan, feasibility study and marketing package to diversify the economy and ensure economic resiliency following significant impact from the coal economy and COVID-19 pandemic in Greenville, Kentucky. Once completed, the project will help the region create and save jobs and advance economic resiliency to an area that has been impacted by the decline in the coal industry.
• $144,000 in one Economic Adjustment Assistance project, matched by $36,000 in local investment, as follows:
  • $144,000, matched by $36,000 in local investment, to the University of South Carolina, Columbia/Richland County, South Carolina, to support the University of South Carolina with creating and delivering three state-of-the-art online training courses to serve the needs of businesses in the tourism and hospitality sector post-pandemic. The project will assist with economic resilience and long-term recovery, not just from COVID-19 but also from future natural disasters and economic shocks, ensuring the tourism and hospitality industry in South Carolina is globally competitive. The development of state-of-the-art online training modules will help towards the goal of providing high-skilled, well-paying jobs of the future project, which will help strengthen and diversify the regional economy.
• $3,500,000 in two Public Works projects, matched by $3,000,000 in local investments, as follows:
  • $2,000,000, matched by $500,000 in local investment, to the DeSoto Parish Police Jury, Mansfield/DeSoto County, Louisiana, to support the construction of roadway extension and improvements to support growth at the I-49 Industrial Park in Mansfield, Louisiana. The frequency of floods currently prevents access to the businesses within the park and are becoming a hindrance for conducting business and a safety problem for employees and vendors. These improvements will provide reliable, safe ingress and egress to the park, which will help generate an environment that can serve as a catalyst for unprecedented regional economic growth. The grantee estimates that this investment will help create 118 jobs, save 219 jobs, and leverage $35,000,000 in private investment.
  • $1,500,000, matched by $2,500,000 in local investment, to the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge/East Baton Rouge County, Louisiana, to support the renovation of a pre-engineered metal building for use as a food innovation and manufacturing incubator to be operated by the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center. The project components include renovations of approximately 11,130 square-feet into dry storage, cooling and freezing storage, kitchen processing space, assorted staff-use space as well as a mezzanine, and covered loading dock. The incubator will enable the Center to expand the services provided by the Food Innovation Institute which began operations in 2013. The institute has a successful track record of launching start-ups, assisting small businesses, with documented economic impact to the state of Louisiana. Once completed, the project will help create jobs, attract private investment, and advance economic resiliency throughout the region. The grantee estimates that this investment will help create 261 jobs and leverage $10,000,000 in private investment.
• $2,153,888 in 19 Technical Assistance University Center projects listed below, matched by $2,153,888 in local investments, to support the first year of a five-year University Center program, which is a competitively-based partnership between EDA and academic institutions that makes the varied and vast resources of universities available to the economic development practitioner community. The program provides technical assistance and research and development tools to increase productivity, spur innovation, and promote entrepreneurship to help increase long-term regional competitiveness and economic diversification.
  • Boise State University, Boise/Ada County, ID, ($125,000)
  • Mississippi State University, MS State/Oktibbeha County, MS, ($109,618)
  • Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta/Fulton County, GA ($109,618)
  • University of West Florida, Pensacola/Escambia County, FL ($109,618)
  • Florida A&M University, Tallahassee/Leon County, FL ($109,618)
  • Georgia Southern University Research & Service Foundation, Inc., Statesboro/Bulloch County, GA ($109,618)
  • University of KY Research Foundation, Lexington/Fayette County, KY ($109,618)
  • University of NC at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill/Orange County, NC ($109,618)
  • Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville/Putnam County, TN ($109,618)
  • University of Tennessee, Knoxville/Knox County, TN ($109,618)
  • Meharry Medical College, Nashville/Davidson County, TX ($109,618)
  • Auburn University, Auburn/Lee County, AL ($109,618)
  • Claflin University, Orangeburg/Orangeburg County, SC ($109,618)
  • University of Louisville, Louisville/Jefferson County, KY ($109,618)
  • Northern Kentucky University, Newport/Campbell County, KY ($109,618)
  • Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville/Cumberland County, NC ($109,618)
  • University of South Carolina, Columbia/Richland County, SC ($109,618)
  • University of Southern California, Los Angeles/Los Angeles County, CA ($125,000)
  • University of Hawaii Systems, Honolulu/Honolulu County, HI ($150,000)
• $955,000 in five Partnership Planning projects listed below, matched by $955,000 in local investments, to support the development and implementation of a comprehensive economic development strategy (CEDS). The CEDS process is designed to bring together the public and private sectors in the creation of an economic development roadmap to diversify and strengthen the regional economy.
  • Yuba-Sutter ED Corporation, Yuba City/Sutter County, CA ($210,000)
  • Northeast Oregon EDD, Enterprise/Wallowa County, OR ($225,000)
  • Southern Oregon Regional ED, Inc., Medford/Jackson County, OR ($225,000)
  • Northwestern Indiana RPC, Portage/Porter County, IN ($70,000)
  • 3SCORE, Inc., Chico/Butte County, CA ($225,000)