A. Program Description
1. Overview
EDA has authority to provide grants to meet the full range of communities’ and regions’ economic
development needs from planning and technical assistance to construction of infrastructure. These
grants are made through a series of Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs) that can be found on EDA’s
website at https://www.eda.gov/funding/funding-opportunities and are designed to support the
economic development activities most useful to a community based on its needs and circumstances.
EDA funds community or regionally generated ideas and assists communities to advance to the next
level of economic development.
This NOFO, which supersedes the FY20 PWEAA NOFO, sets out EDA’s application submission and review
procedures for two of EDA’s core economic development programs authorized under the Public Works
and Economic Development Act of 1965, as amended (42 U.S.C. § 3121 et seq.) (PWEDA): (1) Public
Works and Economic Development Facilities (Public Works) and (2) Economic Adjustment Assistance
(EAA).
EDA supports bottom-up strategies that build on regional assets to spur economic growth and resiliency.
EDA encourages its grantees throughout the country to develop initiatives that present new ideas and
creative approaches to advance economic prosperity in distressed communities.
Through this NOFO EDA intends to advance general economic development in accordance with EDA’s
investment priorities, but also to pursue projects that, where practicable, incorporate specific priorities
related to equity, workforce development, and climate change resiliency so that investments can benefit
everyone for decades to come.
a. EDA Investment Priorities
Each project funded under this NOFO must be consistent with at least one of EDA’s Investment
Priorities:
1. Equity
2. Recovery & Resilience
3. Workforce Development
4. Manufacturing
5. Technology-Based Economic Development
6. Environmentally-Sustainable Development
7. Exports & Foreign Direct Investment
More information about these Investment Priorities, including definitions, can be found at
https://www.eda.gov/funding/investment-priorities. EDA’s website may be updated from time to time if
there are any revisions to these Investment Priorities. While all are important, equity and recovery and
resilience are also evaluation factors, and incorporating such principles or elements into a project
application may make it more competitive. See sections A.3.b. (Resiliency), A.3.c. (Equity) and E.1
(Criteria). Further, for workforce development projects, incorporation of the principles found in section
A.3.a. of this NOFO will make the project more competitive.
5
b. Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS)
Each project must be consistent with the region’s current Comprehensive Economic Development
Strategy (CEDS), or if a CEDS does not exist, an equivalent EDA-accepted regional economic
development strategy that meets EDA’s CEDS or strategy requirements (except for a strategy grant to
develop, update, or refine a CEDS). Applicants must identify the CEDS or equivalent EDA-accepted
regional economic development strategy and clearly detail in the ED-900 how the project will support
the economic development needs and objectives outlined in the strategy. If EDA does not already
possess the applicable CEDS, the Applicant may be required to provide it. If an Applicant is relying on an
alternate strategy other than a CEDS (i.e., if a CEDS does not exist), the Applicant must provide a copy of
the alternate strategy document by attaching it to the application, and EDA will review it.
2. Program Information
As detailed in section B.1. of this NOFO, there are separate program funds for the Public Works and EAA
programs. Applicants do not need to specify the program for which they are applying. EDA will consider
the application under the most appropriate pool of funding.
a. Public Works
Through the primarily construction-oriented Public Works program, EDA provides catalytic investments
to help distressed communities build, design, or engineer critical infrastructure and facilities that will
help implement regional development strategies and advance bottom-up economic development goals
to promote regional prosperity. The Public Works program provides resources to meet the construction
and/or infrastructure design needs of communities to enable them to become more economically
competitive. Examples of projects that have been funded previously include, but are not limited to:
• acquisition and development of land and improvements for use in public works or other types of
development facilities;
• design and engineering, construction, rehabilitation, alteration, expansion, or improvement of
public works, public service, or related development facilities, including related machinery and
equipment;
• water and sewer system improvements;
• creation or expansion of industrial parks;
• creation or expansion of business incubator and accelerator facilities;
• expansion of port and harbor facilities;
• construction or expansion of facilities for workforce development;
• redevelopment of brownfield sites;
• expansion, construction, or improvements of technology-based facilities and research and
development commercialization centers, including the procurement of necessary equipment;
• construction, expansion, or improvement of wet labs, including the procurement of necessary
equipment;
• construction of multi-tenant manufacturing facilities;
• expansion or improvement of research, business and science parks; and
• expansion or enhancement of public facilities with higher quality fiber optic cables and
telecommunications infrastructure and broadband infrastructure deployment.