The US Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) Economic Adjustment Assistance program, is providing $500 million in grants to communities across the nation to plan, build, innovate, and put people back to work through local projects. These grants are funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Three communities in Kansas have received funding for local projects through this grant program.  

The EDA is awarding a $2 million grant to Kansas State University to boost the capacity of the university’s Technology Development Institute to assist Kansas manufacturers.  

This project will provide digital design, technology and product development services to both university students and private industry manufacturers across the state, supporting Kansas’ small manufacturing industry. This EDA grant will be matched with $500,000 in local funds. 

The EDA is also investing $4.5 million to construct wastewater and electrical infrastructure needed to support new business development in Dodge City and Kansas City.  

The city of Dodge City will receive a $2.5 million grant to aid in the installation of a new sewer line to support a planned food manufacturing facility and other business needs. This EDA grant will be matched with $5.1 million in local funds. 

The Kansas City Board of Public Utilities will receive a $2 million grant for construction of a new electrical distribution feeder in support of a new business under development. This EDA grant will be matched with $746,441 in local funds. 

The EDA has officially closed all applications for its American Rescue Plan programs. Grant awards will continue to be announced on a rolling basis through September 30, 2022. A list of all 2022 EDA grants awarded so far can be found here. 

Last week, KU Innovation Park held a dedication and grand-opening event for its Phase III Expansion Facility. The University of Kansas received a $5 million infrastructure grant through the Kansas Department of Commerce’s Building a Stronger Economy (BASE) program to help complete this phase of the Innovation Park project. 

The grant was part of a $100 million allocation of ARPA COVID-19 relief funds that the SPARK Executive Committee identified to be used to support economic development infrastructure projects. 

With the opening of the Phase III facility, the Park kicks-off its 15-year plan with the next step being a combined Phase IV and V initiative that will include a total of over 160K sqft. of lab space that will support innovative new discoveries in national security and sustainability. The $5 million BASE grant will also support planning for Phase IV. 

The KU Innovation Park is an economic development organization and business incubator which provides lab, office and co-working facilities to support innovation-driven and technology-focused companies. 

The Innovation Park currently has three other open facilities: 

• Main Facility, Lawrence: Adjacent to KU’s West Campus in Lawrence, KS. A 50,000 sqft. incubator facility with lab and office suites, reservable conference rooms, and co-working space. 

• West Facility, Lawrence: West Lawrence satellite wet lab facility. Adjacent to KU’s Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis (CEBC). 

• KU Medical Center, Kansas City: 20,000 sqft. incubator facility at the Kansas University Medical Center Campus in Kansas City. Lab and office spaces of varying sizes and configurations available. 

The newly opened Phase III building will encompass another 66,000 square feet of lab and office space adjacent to the main facility. Ten companies have already signed leases to occupy portions of the building. 

Treasury Allows Alternative to Single Audit for Some SLFRF Recipients 

The US Treasury recently released new guidance that allows streamlined financial review for some recipients of Fiscal Recovery Funds under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).  

Previous guidance subjected all recipients and subrecipients of federal funds to audit under the Single Audit Act if they expended more than $750,000 in federal awards during a single fiscal year. This new guidance creates an alternative to the single audit requirement. This alternative will allow some counties to opt for attestation instead, which will greatly help rural counties and other counties for whom a full audit is something they are unfamiliar with or can’t complete. 

SLFRF recipients that expend $750,000 or more during their fiscal year in Federal awards and meet both criteria listed below have the option for their auditor or practitioner to follow the Alternative Compliance Examination Engagement guidance. The criteria are: 

1. The recipient’s total SLFRF award received directly from Treasury or received (through states) as a non-entitlement unit of local government is at or below $10 million; and 
2. Other Federal award funds the recipient expended (not including their SLFRF award funds) are less than $750,000 during the recipient’s fiscal year. 

For more information on recipient compliance and reporting responsibilities, please visit the US Treasury website. 

The four SPARK Advisory Panels (Connectivity, Economic Revitalization, Efficiency and Modernization, and Health and Education) spent several months assembling recommendations for the distribution of discretionary American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. All four Advisory Panels presented their investment recommendations to the SPARK Executive Committee during meetings on April 15 and April 18.  

The Executive Committee will consider these panel recommendations before finalizing its own recommendations and presenting them to the State Finance Council, which has final authority on investment decisions. The committee has not yet met to finalize its recommendations but is working to schedule a meeting in the coming weeks to do so. The Office of Recovery will notify newsletter recipients once the meeting is scheduled and the meeting will be available to livestream on the Kansas Legislature YouTube Page.  

All previous Advisory Panel meeting materials and recordings can be found on our website: Advisory Panels Materials. SPARK Executive Committee meeting recordings and materials, including the recommendation materials presented by the Advisory Panels, are available at: SPARK Materials.