We Need Your Input!

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Nevada Workforce Development Needs Assessment

Survey Ends: Friday, June 16, 2023 at 5:00 PM

The University Center for Economic Development (UCED), part of the College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno, has received a grant from the Governor’s Office of Workforce Innovation (GOWINN) to complete a comprehensive assessment of workforce development needs across the state.

As part of this effort, the UCED have developed this survey to collect vital information on your workforce development needs. Please complete as much of this survey as possible no later than 5 PM on Friday, June 16, 2023.

If you have any questions about the survey or this effort, please contact Frederick Steinmann, UCED Director: 775.784.1655 or fred@unr.edu.

Workforce Development Survey

Five for Friday: June 9, 2023

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Curated by: The Western Nevada Development District…

This edition of Five for Friday focuses on opportunities for economic development around the region in the areas of infrastructure, access to capital, homeownership, climate change and broadband.

Grant Opportunities & More

Join the Electric Highway:
Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program (CFI)

The CFI Grant program provides funding to strategically deploy publicly accessible electric vehicle charging and other alternative fueling infrastructure.

This grant program has two tracks:

Corridor Charging: to deploy electric vehicle charging and hydrogen/propane/natural gas fueling infrastructure along designated alternative fuel corridors

Community Charging: to install electric vehicle charging and alternative fuel in locations on public roads, schools, parks, and in publicly accessible parking facilities

Community Charging grants will prioritize rural areas as well as low-and moderate-income neighborhoods with low ratios of private parking, or high ratios of multiunit dwellings.

Project Minimum: $500,000

Application Deadline: June 13, 2023

CFI Program

National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Standards and Requirements

Strategic Planning Grants to Address Climate Change

The National Endowment for the Humanities’ Climate Smart Humanities Organizations supports efforts from organizations such as museums, libraries, archives, historic sites, and colleges and universities for comprehensive organizational assessments that lead to strategic climate action and adaptation plans.

Grants of up to $300,000 are available with a 1:1 match required. Through the Climate Smart program, humanities organizations can undertake activities such as energy audits, risk assessments, and meetings with consultants. The resulting climate smart planning will establish goals and prioritize actions that reduce impacts on the environment through mitigation and vulnerability from extreme events through adaptation.

Application Deadline: September 14, 2023

Climate Smart Humanities Organizations

EDA Launches Build to Scale Supporting Innovators, Entrepreneurs, and Startups

The U.S. Economic Development Administration is accepting applications for its $50 million Build to Scale (B2S) Program to support projects that strengthen equitable ecosystems and increase access to capital for innovators, entrepreneurs, and startups. The program strengthens regional economies by supporting scalable startups which help communities and regions grow technology-driven businesses, create high-skill/high-wage jobs, and build industries of the future.

The FY 2023 Build to Scale Program is comprised of two competitions:

Venture Challenge:

Venture Challenge supports programs that enable high-growth technology entrepreneurship and foster inclusive access to proven entrepreneurship support models.

Capital Challenge:

Capital Challenge increases access to capital in communities where risk capital is in short supply by providing operational support for early-stage investment funds, networks, and training programs that focus on both traditional and hybrid equity-based financing.

Application Deadline: July 28, 2023

Build to Scale (B2S) Program

Venture Challenge

Capital Challenge

NOFO

Apply Here

USDA Rural Development Programs Highlight Homeownership Month

June is National Homeownership Month!

As part of this nationwide celebration, USDA Rural Development (RD) is showcasing programs that help people in rural and Tribal areas buy, build and repair affordable homes in America’s smallest towns and communities.

The USDA has invested $37 billion to help nearly 216,000 families and individuals through RD’s Single Family Housing programs:

Single Family Housing Direct Home Loan Program: provides loans directly to families and individuals to buy or build homes in rural America

Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program: enables USDA to partner with private lending institutions, backing their loans to help families and individuals buy homes in rural areas

Home Repair Loan and Grant Program: provides loans and grants to help families and individuals repair their homes to make them safer, healthier places to live

Mutual Self-Help Housing Grant Program: provides grants to qualified organizations to help them carry out local self-help housing construction projects

Single Family Housing Programs

Single Family Housing Direct Home Loans

Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program

Single Family Housing Repair Loans & Grants

Single Family Housing Rural Disaster Home Repair Grants

Community Connect Grants Provide Internet Access and Economic Opportunities

The USDA’s Community Connect provides financial assistance to eligible applicants that will provide broadband service in rural, economically challenged communities where service does not exist.

Eligible applicants include:

  • Incorporated organizations
  • Federally recognized Tribes
  • State and local units of government
  • Any other legal entity, including cooperatives, private corporations, or limited liability companies organized on a for-profit or not-for-profit basis

Funds may be used for the construction, acquisition, or leasing of facilities, spectrum, land or buildings used to deploy broadband service for all residential and business customers located within the Proposed Funded Service Area and all participating essential community facilities (such as public schools, fire stations, public libraries, and public safety stations).

The Community Connect program helps rural communities receive access where broadband service is least likely to be commercially available, but where it can make a tremendous difference in the quality of life for people and businesses.

Application Deadline: June 20, 2023

Community Connect Program

NOFO

WNDD Awarded EDA Partnership Planning Grant

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WNDD to Receive $240,000

The U.S. Economic Development Administration this week announced a $240,000 Partnership Planning grant for the Western Nevada Development District (WNDD) for FY2023 thru FY2025. This EDA planning investment supports the development and implementation of a comprehensive economic development strategy (CEDS) for the region served by WNDD, which consists of nine counties and six municipalities. The CEDS process is designed to bring together the public and private sectors in the creation of an economic development roadmap to diversify and strengthen the regional economy.

WNDD members and local stakeholders recently participated in a workshop facilitated by the University Center for Economic Development, part of the College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno to evaluate and update WNDD’s 2020 through 2025 CEDS. These funds will help sustain these collaborative regional planning efforts.

2023 CEDS Workshop

EDA Planning Program

USDA Webinars: Inflation Reduction Act

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USDA Announces Webinars on Inflation Reduction Act Programs to Advance Clean Energy Initiatives in Rural America

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a series of webinars to help organizations learn how to apply for financial assistance to advance clean, affordable and reliable electric energy in rural America.

USDA recently announced $10.7 billion in funding available under the USDA Powering Affordable Clean Energy (USDA PACE) and Empowering Rural America (New ERA) programs.

Eligible organizations may apply for loans, grants, loan modifications and partially forgivable loans. The Biden-Harris Administration made this historic funding possible through the Inflation Reduction Act. It will expand clean, affordable and reliable energy in rural communities, including U.S. territories and Compact of Freely Associated States.

USDA staff will host webinars via Zoom at the following dates and times:

USDA PACE Program and Eligibility Mapping Overview June 6, 2023 at 11:00 AM PT

A New ERA Program and Greenhouse Gas Calculator Overview June 8, 2023 at 11:00 AM PT

Office Hours for USDA PACE and New ERA Programs June 22, 2023 at 11:00 AM PT

Webinar: June 6, 2023

Webinar: June 8, 2023

Office Hours: June 22, 2023

Stakeholder Announcement

Five for Friday: Grant Opportunities and More!

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Curated by: The Western Nevada Development District…

This edition of Five for Friday focuses on opportunities for economic development around the region in the areas of STEM training, technology, infrastructure, and arts and culture.

Grant Opportunities & More

Building STEM Talent Training Systems to Strengthen Regional Innovation Economies

Applications are now being accepted by the Economic Development Administration for the FY23 STEM Talent Challenge. The funding opportunity makes $4.5 million available to eligible entities to create and implement STEM talent development strategies to complement their region’s innovation economy.

Projects should include training models that provide workers with the experience and skills they need to succeed in real-world job situations and to identify opportunities in high-growth potential sectors.

This can include:
• Engaging regional entrepreneurs, innovators, and the organizations that support them to assess and forecast current and future talent needs and to develop collaborative solutions with work-based programs.
• Building highly skilled talent and connecting it to highly technical opportunities that foster professional development and provide continuing advanced skills training to develop the technical and scientific workforce.
• Strengthening collaboration among entrepreneurs, industry leaders and employers, educational organizations, established corporations, economic and/or workforce development organizations, and the public sector to develop demand-driven workforce pipelines for the innovation economy.
• Placing new employees into immediate job openings with regional employers in need of STEM talent.
Competition applicants may request up to $500,000 for implementation of a 24-month program. A 1:1 funding match is required.

Application Deadline: June 12, 2023

STEM Challenge Grant

Webinar Video

USDA to Help Build and Improve Water and Wastewater Infrastructure in Rural America

USDA is making grants available under two different programs with similar objectives but differing eligible groups. Nonprofit organizations may apply for funding to create lending programs to help rural homeowners build, refurbish, and service water wells and individually owned household wastewater systems. In a separate program, private nonprofits can apply for funding to help public entities build and improve water and wastewater disposal systems in rural areas. Both programs are designed for grant recipients to create revolving loan funds for water and wastewater needs in rural areas.

Applicants to the Rural Decentralized Water Systems Grant Program may receive grants to provide up to $15,000 in loans and sub-grant funds to homeowners.

Applicants to the Revolving Funds for Financing Water and Wastewater Projects program may provide up to $200,000 in loans to finance water and wastewater projects.

Application Deadline: June 10, 2023

Stakeholder Announcement

Rural Decentralized Water Systems Grant Program

Revolving Funds for Financing Water and Wastewater Projects

EDA Tech Hub Program Fact Sheet Now Available: Application Period Opens Soon

The Economic Development Administration’s Tech Hubs Program seeks to strengthen U.S. economic and national security by ensuring the industries of the future—and their good jobs—start, grow, and remain in the United States.

The Tech Hubs Program will make place-based investments in regions with the assets, resources, capacity, and potential to become globally competitive, within a reasonable period of time, in critical technologies and industries. EDA will run this competition with a focus on geographic diversity and equity. Successful proposals will demonstrate a region’s capabilities in, and focus on, its primary technological strength, and its potential for Tech Hubs investments to enable the region to become the global leader in that critical technology area within a decade.

Phase 1 Application Window: Opens late April/early May 2023 and will be open for two months.

Tech Hub Fact Sheet

Time for Art and Culture: Humanities Projects Funding Now Available

The National Endowment for the Humanities has just opened its next round of funding in the Public Humanities Projects. This program supports projects that bring the ideas of the humanities to life for general audiences through public programming. Projects must engage humanities scholarship to analyze significant themes in disciplines such as history, literature, ethics, and art history. Awards support projects that are intended to reach broad and diverse public audiences in non-classroom settings in the United States. Projects should engage with ideas that are accessible to the general public and employ appealing interpretive formats.

Public Humanities Projects supports projects in three categories at two funding levels (Planning and Implementation):
• Exhibitions
• Historic Places
• Humanities Discussions
Proposed projects may include complementary components: for example, a museum exhibition might be accompanied by a website or mobile app.

Planning grants up to $75,000 and implementation grants up to $400,000.

Application Deadline: August 9, 2023

Public Humanities Projects

In Case Your Missed It! Nevada Builders Alliance Annual Barbecue

Nevada Builders Alliance hosted their annual barbecue “Meat and Drink 2023” on May 4th at the historic Sutro Tunnel in Dayton, NV. The event was held to support efforts by the Friends of the Sutro Tunnel and the Nevada Builders Foundation to restore the Victorian House at the Tunnel, preserve the site, and make it safe and accessible for visitors.

Over 400 guests fared the cold weather to celebrate the restoration of the first 50 feet of the Tunnel Restoration Project which was rebuilt using Tahoe lumber per Adolph Sutro’s original design. Attendees enjoyed great food, whiskey tasting, and even tried a new local craft beer, the Karma Sutro Pale Ale from the The Fox Brewery.

Photos Courtesy of Nevada Builders Alliance

Read More

Nevada Builders Alliance

Register Today!

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Nevada Tourism and Hospitality Industry Sector Value Network and Supply Chain Symposium

Monday, May 15, 2023
9:00 am to 2:00 pm

The University Center for Economic Development and The College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno invites you to attend a Nevada Tourism and Hospitality Industry Sector Value Network and Supply Chain Symposium on Monday, May 15, 2023 from 9:00am to 2:00pm.

Graduate students in The College’s BADM 779.1001 Spring 2023 course, Graduate Seminar in Logistics and Supply Chain Management, have completed a comprehensive assessment and mapping of the value network and supply chain of Nevada’s Tourism and Hospitality industry sector. Their findings, including an assessment of identified gaps and targeted community and economic development approaches designed to address those gaps will be presented during the symposium.

Elected and appointed officials, local, state, and federal government officials, representatives of various community and economic development organizations, private sector representatives from the broader Tourism and Hospitality sector, and even various non-profit and community-based organizations are invited to attend and participate.

When:
Monday, May 15, 2023
9:00 am: Continental breakfast
10:00 to 1:00 pm: Symposium
1:00 to 2:00 pm: Luncheon

Where:
Joe Crowley Student Union, UNR Main Campus
The Theater (Room 309)

Cost: FREE – Space is limited. You must register.
Continental breakfast, refreshments and lunch included

RSVP by Friday, May 5, 2023, 5 pm
Fred Steinmann
Director of the University Center for Economic Development, UNR
775.784.1655
Fred@unr.edu

Symposium Flyer

Five for Friday: April 28, 2023

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Curated by: The Western Nevada Development District…

This edition of Five for Friday focuses on opportunities for economic development around the region in the areas of business cooperatives, entrepreneurship, infrastructure, cultural development and clean energy.

Grant Opportunities & More

USDA Grants to Strengthen Rural Cooperatives and Expand Access to New and Better Markets

The Rural Cooperative Development Grant program improves the economic condition of rural areas by helping individuals and businesses start, expand or improve rural cooperatives and other mutually-owned businesses through Cooperative Development Centers. Grants up to $200,000 are awarded through a national competition. Each fiscal year, applications are requested through a notice published in the Federal Register.

Nonprofit corporations and institutions of higher education are eligible to apply for this program. Public bodies, cooperatives, for-profit business and individuals are NOT eligible. A Center can be in any area, but the individuals and business assisted must be located in an eligible rural area.

Examples of technical assistance and other services the Centers provide are:

• Conducting feasibility studies
• Developing business plans
• Providing leadership and operational improvement training
• Facilitating strategic planning

Application Deadline: June 26, 2023

Federal Register

Stakeholder Announcement

Empowering Entrepreneurship: Nevada Ecosystem Assessment and Plan April 2023

EDAWN in partnership with the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development, Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance, and America’s SBDC of Nevada came together to conduct a comprehensive assessment and strategy for empowering entrepreneurship in Nevada in order to foster economic growth, vitality, and stability.

The assessment, commissioned by GOED, was conducted by Entrepreneurial Communities, a team of experts who interviewed hundreds of stakeholders across the state, including entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and educators, to assess the areas for improvement within the entrepreneurial ecosystem and recommend implementation strategies.

More Information

Full Report

Funding Available to Help Rural Communities Improve Water and Wastewater Infrastructure

Whether you need to build, expand, or renovate your system, USDA’s Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant Program has funds available.

Program Highlights:

• Projects must be in a rural area with a population of 10,000 or less
• Eligible applicants may be public bodies, nonprofits, or Federally-recognized Tribes
• Low interest rate funding can be combined with grants to keep user costs reasonable
• Longer financing terms are available with typical projects financed over 40 years

Application Deadline: Ongoing

USDA Nevada Program Information

File Application Online

USDA Nevada Contacts

Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation Grants Support Wide Range of Nonprofit Activities

The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation supports worthwhile activities for which nonprofit organizations have made their best case for receiving funding. Funding is provided for specific projects/activities and operating support.

The Foundation will consider:

• Museums, cultural, and performing arts programs
• Schools
• Hospitals
• Educational and skills training programs
• Programs for youth, seniors, and the handicapped
• Environmental and wildlife protection activities
• Support for the homeless and other community-based organizations and their programs

Eligible applicants are IRS-qualified 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations located within the United States.

Application Deadline for Fall 2023: May 10, 2023

Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation Grant

Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grants: Community Charging

The US Department of Transportation Community Charging grants are made available annually to install electric vehicle charging and alternative fuel in locations on public roads, schools, parks, and in publicly accessible parking facilities. These grants will be prioritized for rural areas, low-and moderate-income neighborhoods, and communities with low ratios of private parking, or high ratios of multi-unit dwellings.

Minimum grant amount is $500,000.

Application Deadline: May 30, 2023

Community Charging Program

Broadband Technical Assistance Applications Now Being Accepted!

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$20 million in Technical Assistance Funding Available

The newly announced Broadband Technical Assistance (BTA) Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) has been published in the Federal Register. The $20 million available for BTA is made possible by funding the USDA Rural Utilities Service (RUS) received in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

BTA refers to activities that support broadband expansion into rural areas and may include:

• Project planning and community engagement
• Financial sustainability
• Environmental compliance
• Construction planning and engineering
• Accessing federal resources
• Data collection and reporting

The RUS is accepting applications from broadband technical assistance providers, recipients, and entities proposing projects that would support the growth or expansion of a broadband cooperative that would serve rural communities.

Application Deadline: June 20, 2023

BTA Program

BTA Funding Announcement

USDA Offers New Funding to Promote the Expansion of High-Speed Internet in Rural Areas

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$20 million in Technical Assistance Funding is Available to Plan High-Speed Internet Projects in Rural Communities

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced the $20 million Broadband Technical Assistance (BTA) grant program to deliver broadband technical assistance resources for rural communities, and to support the development and expansion of broadband cooperatives.

Funds can be used to promote broadband expansion in eligible rural areas and include activities such as project planning and community engagement, operations, financial sustainability, environmental compliance, construction and engineering planning, accessing federal resources.

Grant awards range from $50,000, to the maximum award amount of $1 million.

Who can apply?

Eligible applicants include:

• Federally recognized Tribes and Tribal entities
• State or local governments, including agencies and subdivisions, among others
• Territories or possessions of the United States
• Institutions of higher education (including 1862 Land-Grant Institutions, 1890 Land-Grant Institutions, 1994 Land-Grant Institutions, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities)
• Nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) IRS status
• Cooperatives or mutual organizations
• Corporations
• Limited Liability Companies or Limited Liability Partnerships

BTA Funding Opportunity Announcement Webinar: May 8, 2023, 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM PT

BTA Funding Opportunity Announcement Webinar for Tribes and Tribal Entities: May 18, 2023, 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM PT

Broadband Technical Assistance Program

Webinar Registration: May 8, 2023

Webinar Registration: May 18, 2023

In the News: Mineral County

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Thriving Communities Program USDOT

Congratulations to Mineral County and community partners Walker River Paiute Tribe and Mineral County School District for their successful application to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Thriving Communities Program.

The County is working to implement a shared community revitalization plan by merging the community capacity needs for the Babbitt Industrial Park site with the infrastructure needs of the town of Hawthorne. Thriving Communities Program support will help to advance local storm water infrastructure improvements to repair roadways from flooding events and improve community walkability.

Through the Thriving Communities Program, USDOT selects and funds Capacity Builder teams to provide deep-dive technical assistance, planning, and capacity building support to under-resourced and disadvantaged communities across the U.S.

The goal is to assist communities with the technical tools and organizational capacity to comprehensively plan for and deliver quality infrastructure projects and community development projects that enable their communities and neighborhoods to thrive.

The FY 2023 Thriving Communities Program opportunity for Capacity Builders and communities is expected to open in summer 2023. USDOT will update the Thriving Communities Program website with more information when it is available.

Thriving Communities Program