Five for Friday: August 18, 2023
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 placemaking, infrastructure, mobility, drought preparedness, and wildfire defense.
Grant Opportunities & More
Placemaking: Community Development Success Stories
Creative placemaking integrates arts, culture, and design activities into efforts that strengthen communities. Community leaders and public and private grant funding organizations interested in rural placemaking are encouraged to attend the USDA and University of Kentucky Webinar on Placemaking Resources in Rural Communities.
Attendees will hear about firsthand experiences of rural leaders who have received grants to finance creative placemaking projects. The presentations will also provide successful placemaking models that small funding organizations can replicate in their own communities.
Webinar: August 30, 2023, at 10:00 am PT
Rural America Placemaking Toolkit
Infrastructure ‘Bootcamps’ Help Small Cities Get Grants
The National League of Cities’ (NLC) Local Infrastructure Hub is a national program designed to connect cities and towns with the resources and expert advice they need to access federal infrastructure funding in order to drive local progress, improve communities, and deliver results for residents.
As part of the Local Infrastructure Hub, NLC hosts Grant Application Bootcamps for local governments with 150,000 or fewer residents. The Bootcamps are designed to assist smaller communities navigate grant opportunities. More than 600 cities have participated in the Bootcamps, with new registrations opening later this summer.
Getting SMART about Transportation Technology
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is accepting applications for the second year of its Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grants Program. This SMART Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) will accept applications for Stage 1 Planning and Prototyping grants. During Stage 1, the SMART program seeks to fund innovation aimed at solving real-world transportation problems and is focused on building data, technology capacity, and experience for State, local, and Tribal governments.
Recognizing that many public sector transportation agencies face challenges finding the resources and personnel to leverage new technologies, the program also builds in the time and support to enable successful deployment. The funding opportunity is open to public sector entities seeking to carry out transportation projects that demonstrate at least one of the following technology areas:
• Coordinated automation
• Connected vehicles
• Sensors
• Systems integration
• Delivery/logistics
• Innovative aviation
• Smart grid
• Traffic signals
Anticipated funding for Phase 1 projects is $250,000.
Application Deadline: October 10, 2023
WaterSmart Grants for Drought Preparedness Webinar
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation provides funding for projects that will help communities prepare for and respond to drought. Typically, these types of projects are referred to as “mitigation actions” in a drought contingency plan.
Reclamation will fund projects that build resiliency to drought by:
Increasing the reliability of water supplies
Improving water management
Providing benefits for fish and wildlife and the environment
The Bureau will host an informational webinar to discuss eligible applicants and project types, program requirements, and the evaluation criteria for both the Planning and Project Design Grants funding opportunity and the Drought Resiliency Projects funding opportunity. The new Planning and Project Design Grants funding opportunity includes:
Water Strategy Grants
Project Design Grants
Drought Contingency Planning
Awards range from $25,000 to $5 million.
Application Deadline: October 31, 2023
Webinar: August 24, 2023, 10:30 am PT
WaterSmart Grant and Webinar Information
Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program
The Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is again accepting applications for the Community Wildfire Defense Grant program. Now in its second year, the competitive program is designed to assist at-risk communities, including Tribal communities, non-profit organizations and state forestry agencies with planning for and mitigating wildfire risks.
In the first round of funding, the program awarded $197 million to 99 project proposals across 22 states and 7 Tribes. The program provides funding to communities for two primary purposes:
• Develop and revise Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPP)
• Implement projects described in a CWPP that is less than 10 years old
Application Deadline: October 31, 2023
