The federal Economic Development Administration (EDA) recently announced a portfolio of six ARPA-funded grant opportunities, collectively called Investing in America's Communities, representing the $3 billion it will award by late 2022.
These opportunities include:
Build Back Better Regional Challenge ($1 billion) to provide a transformational investment to regions across the country to revitalize their economies.
Good Jobs Challenge ($500 million) to develop and strengthen regional workforce training systems and sector-based partnerships.
Economic Adjustment Assistance ($500 million) to help communities across the nation plan, build, innovate, and put people back to work through projects tailored to local needs.
Indigenous Communities ($100 million) to develop and execute economic development projects they need to recover from the pandemic and build economies for the future.
Statewide Planning, Research and Networks ($90 million) for state planning efforts as well as grants to build Communities of Practice to extend technical assistance to support EDA’s work with grantees.
We encourage you to contact us as soon as possible if you're interested in applying for any of these, or in being a part of a regional application. Please email lbrennan@berkshireplanning.org with your potential project(s) and concepts.
Berkshire Regional Planning Commission and 1Berskhire have partnered to develop a technical assistance program for businesses, non-profits, and municipalities.
Early surveys indicate strong interest in grant identification and management, improvements to online communications (including websites, social media, e-newsletters, online permitting and purchasing), as well as training for boards and committees.
MassDevelopment’s in-house expertise and partnerships with consultants can help municipal officials, planners, local stakeholders, and others address priority planning and development projects through creative solutions and clear, implementable action steps.
Awards will range from $5,000 to $50,000 and can support public surplus property reuse assistance, including feasibility analyses and RFP/Q development, and the implementation of local district management tools such as BID and DIF.
A series of four sessions covering flexible meeting experiences will be offered beginning this month on August 18th. Pre-register for one or all of these sessions below:
These sessions are being conducted by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council's Community Engagement Department. Learn more and access free resources HERE.
Racial Equity Resource Guide for Planners & Policy Makers
A comprehensive database has been developed by Powerful Pathways, bringing together dozens of resources including articles, podcasts, directories and organizations that can help your community in its planning and policy making. This guide is a living document which will be periodically updated. Review current Resource Guide links HERE.
Online Communication Best Practices
10 Tips to Build a Good Government Website
by Amit Chauhan, Revize.com
Some of our favorite suggestions from this list:
Use web analytics to understand user behavior, then arrange features accordingly
Make your homepage "function-focused", guiding users efficiently and effectively
Embrace mobile-responsive web design, which adapts to screen size and device
