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On July 24, 2024 Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the balanced, bipartisan 2025 budget, which includes $2.5 million for the Office of Rural Prosperity outreach and grants. We look forward to continuing to support rural communities and their priorities through the Rural Readiness Grant Program and Rural Readiness Network.
The 2025 budget also advances recommendations made in Michigan's Roadmap to Rural Prosperity which ORP released in early 2024 through investments such as:
- $3.3 million to improve turnaround times and public outreach for environmental permitting.
- $50 million in continued funding for the Revitalization and Placemaking program
- $100 million to construct more affordable housing, building on the historic $1.4 billion investment to build or rehabilitate almost 10,000 homes and the unprecedented $50 million set aside for housing.
- $3.3 million for the Housing Readiness Incentive Grant Program to provide grants to local communities to cover the costs associated with master plan updates, zoning amendments, and other actions to increase housing supply and affordability.
- $75 million in new Revenue Sharing funds to continue support for all cities, villages, townships, and counties across the state, helping them provide services to residents including first responders, transportation, and water infrastructure, as well as placemaking and recreation.
- $74.5 million of new one-time funding for local roads and bridges and other critical infrastructure projects.
- $75 million of additional funding to support local transit operating expenses, federal transit capital grants, marine passenger services, rail operations and transit capital matching funds.
- $7.1 million of additional funding for Michigan airports and air service retention and enhancement.
- $161.5 million to establish new Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics sites across the state to serve as many as 35,000 additional individuals, providing them with behavioral health services.
- $65 million to fund a 15% rate increase for childcare and bonuses for childcare workers
The ORP looks forward to continuing our cross-agency collaborations and deploying these resources in rural communities in 2025.
ORP announced the formation of the Rural Readiness Network in June 2024 as a continuation and enhancement of the Office's outreach and engagement initiatives. The Network will be driven by the needs of local readiness teams and supported by a variety of readiness partners including ORP, state and federal agencies, and other resource organizations.
Later this summer, ORP staff will meet with each local readiness team to better understand their priorities and projects and we look forward to hosting a network convening in the fall. If your community would like to engage in the Network and be included in Fall 2024 Network conversations, supports, and convenings, we ask that you complete the Local Readiness Team Introduction form by August 20, 2024. We will continue to add local readiness teams to the network through the year, but completing the form by August 20th will ensure that your team's projects, priorities, and needs will be taken into consideration as we develop our first network activities. If you have questions about the Rural Readiness Network, please don't hesitate to reach out to Lisa Miller at MillerL45@michigan.gov.
CEDAM, in partnership with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), manages the Community Development Fellowship. The Fellowship aims to add capacity to Michigan’s diverse communities to help them achieve their economic development potential.
Fellows are placed in 10 communities engaged or certified in Redevelopment Ready Communities (RRC) for fifteen months and work on a variety of projects beginning in January 2025. This is a great way for communities and municipalities to expand organizational capacity, increase local collaboration, and remove barriers to development. Fellows have also helped their communities make significant progress with the RRC process, supported efforts to update key planning documents, passed revised zoning ordinances, and more. More information is available on the CEDAM website. The deadline to apply is August 19.
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Talent Attraction and Retention
Make MI Home Pilot Program - Offered by Let's Grow Michigan, the Michigan Growth Office, Make MI Home is a statewide regional talent retention and attraction pilot program, where $500,000 in funds will be distributed to qualifying entities across the state to help regions keep and connect talent to their communities and make Michigan an even better place to call home for everyone. Pilot program applications are due August 9, 2024. Additional Make MI Home information can be found here.
Housing and Community Development
Housing Rehabilitation, New Unit, and Public Amenities Funding - The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) MI Neighborhood Program is a blend of $60 million in funding in response to regional action plans strategic alignment with the Statewide Housing Plan. This program streamlines access to MSHDA funding for housing rehabilitation, new units, and public amenities funding for local units of government, non-profit organizations, and for-profit entities. Applications are continuously accepted and batched into application windows for scoring. On the first Monday of each month, beginning June 2024, reserved amounts and the remaining balance for each region will be posted on the MI Neighborhood Program website.
Housing Data Portal - The Michigan Housing Data Portal provides easily accessible housing, demographic and economic data to help community members and housing stakeholders across the state understand key local trends, compare these trends to other geographies, and create detailed reports. Users can generate reports on-demand for any one of the categories – or all the categories – and they’re available at the county, city, township, and village level.
Economic Development
Good Jobs Challenge - EDA is now accepting applications for the FY 2024 Good Jobs Challenge Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). This program is targeted to jobs that advance industries critical to U.S. economic competitiveness and the competitiveness of the applicant’s region, including jobs that do not require a four-year college degree. Applicants must implement training for jobs that advance key technology focus areas as established by the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, which include advanced energy, biotechnology, robotics, and semiconductors. EDA will prioritize applicants that include worker voice through partnerships with labor unions or worker-serving organizations, support for workers at all levels of certification and degree status, and prioritize workers that are adversely impacted by changes in technology. The NOFO deadline is September 27, 2024 at 4:59 PM EST.
Climate, Environment, and Energy
Renewable Ready Communities Award - EGLE is currently providing $5,000 per megawatt (MW) to permitters and expectant hosts of eligibility utility-scale renewable energy projects which underwent local permitting processes, with $2,500 per MW granted to each awardee in cases when host and permitter differ. The deadline to apply to this solicitation is September 30, 2024. Additional information and applications for Renewable Ready Communities Award can be found here.
Catalyst Communities Webinars- The Catalyst Communities Initiative is a comprehensive program that provides education, training, planning, and technical resources to local governments as they work toward their sustainability goals. Upcoming webinars include:
August 21, 11:00 am - 12:00pm
Navigating the New Renewable Energy Siting Legislation: Insights for Local Governments
In November 2023, the Michigan legislature passed the Clean Energy Future Package and the Clean Energy and Jobs Act, which included legislation that drastically alters the landscape of siting renewable energy projects in the state. Local governments, from cities to villages to townships to counties, play a key role in siting renewable energy and are now faced with understanding and adapting to this new landscape. How can your community prepare for these changes and approach challenges? Attend this webinar to learn about planning and zoning for utility-scale renewable energy in the context of the new siting process.
August 28, 11:00 am - 12:00pm
MI Solar Communities Guidebook
Join us for an insightful webinar, where Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association (GLREA) will provide an overall executive summary of their MI Solar Communities Guidebook. The overall goal of the guidebook is to provide help to local government, organizations and individuals learn more about renewable energy, with an emphasis on solar, and to provide the resources to support deployment. This webinar will help provide insight on deployment of renewable energy in Michigan, resources to support deployment, Community Solar - what it is and how it works, GLREA’s Solarize program, utilizing other sources of renewable and energy storage. Don’t miss an opportunity to learn more about the future of solar in Michigan.
October 23, 11:00 am - 12:00pm
“Net Zero” for Local Governments: Braiding Technologies to Deliver Efficient, Renewable Buildings
Many are familiar with the concept of braiding complementary funding sources to achieve local clean energy projects. This webinar will extend the metaphor to the physical realm: That is, braiding various “net zero” building technologies—envelope upgrades, heat pumps, on-site renewable electricity and storage, and EV charging—to achieve integrated, high-performance buildings. Learn about strategies to holistically improve the energy efficiency of local government buildings to reduce carbon, improve the health and safety of occupants, AND save your community money by significantly reducing monthly utility bills.
Experts from skilled trade associations will explain how the integrated “net zero” approach to renovations and new construction projects can work for local governments, offering advice on getting started and engaging with relevant skilled trades professionals in your region. They will also share how you can turn this approach into persuasive funding proposals that will make these projects even bigger financial winners for your community.
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