CARES Act funding: U.S. Economic Development Administration Recovery Assistance for COVID-19 impacted communities

The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) has announced funding opportunities for the $1.5 billion supplemental appropriation EDA received from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed by Congress at the end of March. On May 7, 2020, EDA announced an Addendum to its FY 2020 Public Works and Economic Adjustment Assistance Notice of Funding Opportunity, adding CARES Act Recovery Assistance in order to quickly deploy CARES Act funding to eligible entities.

Administered under the authority of EDA’s Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) program, the funding is targeted for economic development assistance to help communities prevent, prepare for and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. These supplemental funds must be awarded by Sept. 30, 2022.

Eligible applicants

Applications for EDA financial assistance under the Addendum and EAA programs can be submitted by:

• States, counties, cities or other political subdivisions of a state, including special-purpose units of state or local government engaged in economic or infrastructure development activities
• Federally recognized Indian tribes
• Institutions of higher education
• Public or private not-for-profit organizations acting in cooperation with officials of a political subdivision of a state
• EDA-designated district organizations

EDA has determined that economic injury from the pandemic qualifies as a special need under the EAA program. Therefore, all applicant entities are eligible to apply without need to reference other economic distress criteria. However, applicants need to explain how the proposed project will “prevent, prepare for and respond to coronavirus” or respond to “economic injury as a result of coronavirus.”

Businesses cannot submit applications, however, they may be eligible for various types of assistance from EDA recipients, including loans from an EDA-funded revolving loan fund (RLF) and technical assistance from university centers and other recipients.

Eligible grant expenses

EDA will accept applications for grants to support a wide variety of construction and non-construction projects, including: