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Dear Friends,
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Biden-Harris administration’s American Rescue Plan. This historic investment allocated $3 billion to the Economic Development Administration (EDA) to support bottom-up development in communities across America, including those that have endured decades of disinvestment.
In the 365 days since the American Rescue Plan Act was signed into law, our team has designed and started implementing six transformational programs. In the short- and medium-term, these programs will help communities across the nation recover and build back from the pandemic. In the long-term, these programs will strengthen the U.S. economy and serve as an economic and workforce development blueprint for decades to come.
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Here's what we have been up to by the numbers:
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$510 million awarded for Travel, Tourism and Outdoor Recreation to all states and territories to accelerate economic recovery through travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation sectors as they recover from the pandemic. Designed to meet communities where they are in their economic recovery, states are using this funding for tourism campaigns, infrastructure upgrades, planning initiatives, and workforce programs.
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$59 million awarded to support statewide planning efforts to all states and territories to promote equity and ensure resilient economic recovery across America. States are using this funding to boost economic development, enhance U.S. competitiveness, combat the climate crisis, and recover from the pandemic.
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529 applications received for the $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge from more than 500 regions across America. In December, we announced 60 Build Back Better Regional Challenge finalists who are now completing their proposals to compete for up to $100 million per grantee. The goal is to develop and strengthen regional industry clusters across the country, all while embracing economic equity, creating good-paying jobs, and enhancing U.S. competitiveness globally. Finalists’ projects span 45 states and Puerto Rico. Twelve finalists are in coal communities, to which EDA has dedicated $100 million of the Build Back Better Regional Challenge funds as part of its Coal Communities Commitment.
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509 applications received for the $500 million Good Jobs Challenge to support workforce training that connects Americans with good-paying jobs and removes traditional barriers to success like childcare and transportation.
This is just the beginning. In the coming months, EDA will award all $3 billion to fund bottom-up, middle-out efforts to build America back better. I am so excited about the work that lies ahead and seeing the ripple effects of these investments in the months and years to come. Thank you for being a partner in this critically important time.
Onward,
Alejandra Y. Castillo
U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development
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