Investments for Public Works and Economic Development Facilities

EDA's Public Works program helps distressed communities revitalize, expand, and upgrade their physical infrastructure. This program enables communities to attract new industry, encourage business expansion, diversify local economies, generate local i

Through the primarily construction-oriented Public Works program, EDA provides catalytic investments to help distressed communities build, design, or engineer critical infrastructure and facilities that will help implement regional development strategies and advance bottom-up economic development goals to promote regional prosperity. The Public Works program provides resources to meet the construction and/or infrastructure design needs of communities to enable them to become more economically competitive. Examples of projects that have been funded previously include, but are not limited to: • acquisition and development of land and improvements for use in public works or other types of development facilities; • design and engineering, construction, rehabilitation, alteration, expansion, or improvement of public works, public service, or related development facilities, including related machinery and equipment; • water and sewer system improvements; • creation or expansion of industrial parks; • creation or expansion of business incubator and accelerator facilities; • expansion of port and harbor facilities; • construction or expansion of facilities for workforce development; • redevelopment of brownfield sites; • expansion, construction, or improvements of technology-based facilities and research and development commercialization centers, including the procurement of necessary equipment; • construction, expansion, or improvement of wet labs, including the procurement of necessary equipment; • construction of multi-tenant manufacturing facilities; • expansion or improvement of research, business and science parks; and • expansion or enhancement of public facilities with higher quality fiber optic cables and telecommunications infrastructure and broadband infrastructure deployment.

Pursuant to Section 3(6) of PWEDA (42 U.S.C. § 3122(6)(A)) and 13 C.F.R. § 300.3 (Eligible Recipient), eligible applicants for EDA financial assistance under the Public Works and EAA programs include a(n): (i) District Organization of an EDA-designated Economic Development District; (ii) Indian Tribe or a consortium of Indian Tribes; (iii) State, county, city, or other political subdivision of a State, including a special purpose unit of a State or local government engaged in economic or infrastructure development activities, or a consortium of political subdivisions; (iv) institution of higher education or a consortium of institutions of higher education; (v) public or private non-profit organization or association acting in cooperation with officials of a political subdivision of a State; (vi) an economic development organization; or (vii) a public-private partnership for public infrastructure. Individuals and for-profit entities are not eligible for funding.

Pursuant to Section 3(6) of PWEDA (42 U.S.C. § 3122(6)(A)) and 13 C.F.R. § 300.3 (Eligible Recipient), eligible applicants for EDA financial assistance under the Public Works and EAA programs include a(n): (i) District Organization of an EDA-designated Economic Development District; (ii) Indian Tribe or a consortium of Indian Tribes; (iii) State, county, city, or other political subdivision of a State, including a special purpose unit of a State or local government engaged in economic or infrastructure development activities, or a consortium of political subdivisions; (iv) institution of higher education or a consortium of institutions of higher education; (v) public or private non-profit organization or association acting in cooperation with officials of a political subdivision of a State; (vi) an economic development organization; or (vii) a public-private partnership for public infrastructure. Individuals and for-profit entities are not eligible for funding.

EDA Public Works program investments help facilitate the transition of communities from being distressed to becoming competitive by developing key public infrastructure, such as technology-based facilities that utilize distance learning networks, smart rooms, and smart buildings; multitenant manufacturing and other facilities; business and industrial parks with fiber optic cable; and telecommunications and development facilities. In addition, EDA invests in traditional public works projects, including water and sewer systems improvements, industrial parks, business incubator facilities, expansion of port and harbor facilities, skill-training facilities, and brownfields redevelopment

EDA Public Works program investments help facilitate the transition of communities from being distressed to becoming competitive by developing key public infrastructure, such as technology-based facilities that utilize distance learning networks, smart rooms, and smart buildings; multitenant manufacturing and other facilities; business and industrial parks with fiber optic cable; and telecommunications and development facilities. In addition, EDA invests in traditional public works projects, including water and sewer systems improvements, industrial parks, business incubator facilities, expansion of port and harbor facilities, skill-training facilities, and brownfields redevelopment

The period of performance for a given project will depend on the nature of the project for which the grant or cooperative agreement is awarded. Typically, strategy grants and non-construction projects may range in duration from 12 to 24 months. Construction projects are expected to range from 12 to 48 months and are expected to be completed within 5 years from award date. EDA will work closely with recipients to accommodate their projected timelines within reason and allowances of regulations and grant policies. EDA expects that all projects will proceed efficiently and expeditiously, and EDA expects applicants to clearly document how quickly they will be able to start and complete the proposed project scope of work within the above timeframes.

Projects are evaluated with the criteria each of which will receive equal weight: i. The project's feasibility or likelihood that it will achieve its projected outcomes on the proposed schedule; ii. The extent to which the project demonstrates support from and involvement with regional stakeholders, e.g. private, public, and non-profit entities, community-based organizations, workforce development boards, economic development organizations, schools, community colleges, neighborhood and housing associations, and the communities that stand to benefit; iii. The extent to which the project demonstrates resiliency to future sudden and severe economic dislocations, e.g., closures of major local employers, etc.; iv. The extent to which the project is aligned with and integrated into other public or private investments currently ongoing or planned for the community and region; v. The degree of economic distress experienced in the project region; vi. The project's demonstrated ability to foster job creation and retention, including whether the project will create jobs and registered apprenticeships; vii. The project's demonstrated ability to promote private investment in the regional economy; and viii. The project's demonstrated alignment with EDA's current Investment Priorities as outlined at https://www.eda.gov/funding/investment-priorities. In addition to the above criteria, for workforce projects only, EDA will consider the following criterion equal to the combined weight of the above eight criteria: i. The extent to which the project incorporates the workforce project requirements articulated in section D.2.b.i. of this NOFO, including the number of job placements expected and the number and type of employer commitments, relative to the capacity of the region.

Review and Selection Process a. Competitiveness Review (CR) Process For construction and non-construction projects, except proposals for preparation or revision of a CEDS, EDA will conduct a Competitiveness Review (CR). In CR, each Regional Office will review applications for their region. This review will be conducted by at least two EDA staff members. This CR team will review each application against the pass/fail evaluation criteria described in the NOFO. Applications that the two reviewers agree fail any of the listed criteria will be deemed "Not Competitive" and will not receive further consideration. Projects that pass all criteria will be deemed "Competitive" and will advance to a full merit review by an Investment Review Committee (described below). Grants for the preparation or revision of a CEDS are not subject to CR. Investment Review Committee (IRC) Process For projects deemed Competitive after the CR, and all proposals for preparation or revision of a CEDS, each EDA Regional Office will convene periodic IRCs consisting of at least three EDA staff members. The IRC will make a group evaluation of the merits of each application based on the extent to which the application meets the program specific award and application requirements. The IRC will evaluate and rate projects according to the criteria listed in E.1.b. of the NOFO. Note: Throughout the application review and selection process, strategy grants will be evaluated independently from all other applications and will be reviewed based on specified strategy grants evaluation criteria.

If an applicant is awarded funding, neither DOC nor EDA is under any obligation to provide any additional future funding in connection with that award or to make any future award(s). Amendment or renewal of an award to increase funding or to extend the period of performance is at the discretion of DOC and EDA.