USDA Announces Job Creation Funding for Industry Partnerships in Low-Income Rural Areas
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of Rural Development is receiving applications for the 2023 Rural Innovation Stronger Economy (RISE) grant program. Proposals are due April 20, 2023.
What is the Rural Innovation Stronger Economy (RISE) Grants program?
The Rural Innovation Stronger Economy (RISE) Grant Program offers grant assistance to help struggling communities by funding job accelerators in low-income rural communities. The primary objective of the RISE program is to support jobs accelerator partnerships to improve the ability of distressed rural communities to create and augment high-wage jobs, accelerate the formation of new businesses, support industry clusters and maximize the use of local productive assets in eligible low-income rural areas.
This program exists to meet a recognized need for federal support of jobs accelerator partnerships for the promotion of private investment in regional economies. The flexible use of funds by RISE grant recipients allows a region to leverage their community assets by assisting new and existing industry, establish and operate innovation centers for job development and training, including through the use of new or improved broadband service by jobs accelerators. This program’s objectives are to improve the ability of rural communities to create high-wage jobs, accelerate the formation of rural businesses, and strengthen regional economies.
Who may apply for funding under this program?
Eligible applicants are rural jobs accelerator partnerships with expertise in delivering economic and job training programs, consisting of the following: not profit entities, state entities, tribal entities, institutions of higher education, and public bodies.
The RISE project must serve a rural region small enough to allow close collaboration among partners. It also must include important elements of the region’s prioritized industry cluster (concentrations of related industries) in order to be eligible for this funding.
How may these funds be used?
Funding from RISE grants may be used to build or support an incubator facility, provide worker training to assist in the creation of new jobs, train the existing workforce with skills for higher-paying jobs, and/ or develop a base of skilled workers and improve their opportunities to obtain high-wage jobs in new or existing local industries.
The agency encourages projects that will address Rural Development key priorities: assisting rural communities to recover economically through more and better market opportunities and through improved infrastructure; ensuring all rural residents have equitable access to RD programs and benefits from RD funded projects; and reducing climate pollution and increasing resilience to the impacts of climate change through economic support to rural communities.
What are the funding amounts available?
Grant amounts are awarded competitively with a minimum of $500,000 and a maximum grant amount of $2,000,000.
What is the award timeline and project duration?
Grant applications are due on April 20, 2023 by 11:59pm EST and must be submitted online at https://www.grants.gov.
The Notice of Funding Opportunity can be found here.
For more information on this program or how to apply with Morrison’s assistance, please contact the Morrison Grants Team by email at grants@morrisonco.net or call us at 530-893-4764.