Crisp air, apple cider doughnuts and the close of Federal FY 2021 are sure signs that fall has arrived. Our staff has been busy meeting with stakeholders about our American Rescue Plan programs and we are pleased with the excitement about these unprecedented opportunities to transform regional economies.

EDA also recently made an important regulation update to make our grants more accessible to Native American communities. The new rule, published in the Federal Register, extends EDA Tribal eligibility to include for-profit entities that are wholly owned by and established for the benefit of a Tribe. Through this rule change, EDA hopes to increase the number of Tribal applications for programs, including our $100 million Indigenous Communities program. Watch the webinar.

EDA staff continues to be available to support Tribal Nations – and all potential grantees – in applying for grants. If you need to reach us, please visit our Contact page.

DETROIT – U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Alejandra Y. Castillo announced the 50 recipients of the 2021 “Build to Scale” program at an event on September 30, 2021, in Detroit, Michigan. (Press release)

One of the 50 grantees, TechTown Detroit, an entrepreneurial hub on the Wayne State University campus, hosted the outdoor event that drew regional and local leaders. Representatives from Automation Alley, a Troy-based grantee, also attended. (Read media coverage in the Detroit Free Press, Crain’s Detroit Business and CBS.)

Assistant Secretary Castillo also toured the TechTown building and NEXTEnergy innovation center across the street, where she rode in an autonomous vehicle. Afterwards, she visited the Centrepolis Accelerator in Southfield, which is partnering with Automation Alley on their grant with Lean Rocket Lab in Jackson, Michigan. (Photos from the visit.)

Check out the full list of grantees.

CLEVELAND – U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves and Assistant Secretary Alejandra Y. Castillo visited Collinwood High School in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 7, 2021, to announce a grant to WorkRoom Program Alliance and the Cleveland Municipal School District. (Press release)

The $3.6 million grant will help renovate a 33,000-square-foot space within the high school for use as a manufacturing workforce training center. 

This new facility will have key resources – including a machine shop, mechatronics labs, and leasable workspace and classrooms for community partners – that will expand opportunities for unemployed and underemployed individuals in the community and provide the trained workforce that is needed to strengthen Cleveland’s vital manufacturing sector. (Photos from the visit)

Shamik Amin

Civil Engineer

After EDA approves an infrastructure grant—a road, sewer, bridge or building—the tough work of getting the infrastructure project built begins.

Enter Shamik Amin. As one of EDA’s five civil engineers and construction project managers in the Chicago Regional Office, Amin works with grantees to ensure that projects run smoothly.

Amin started at EDA in August 2020 after working for 10 years in private sector construction. He has yet to visit any EDA construction sites—a common practice among EDA civil engineers and construction project managers prior to COVID-19—but looks forward to one day seeing some finished projects.

“Just knowing that this funding is going to communities that need it the most is a good feeling,” Amin said. “And one day I will get to see the progress and how the project is helping create jobs or restore normalcy to a city or town.” (READ FULL PROFILE)