The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) is helping many communities get the funding to fix their aging infrastructure. However, for smaller and rural communities, the funding is difficult to apply for and get.
Many of these smaller communities lack the resources to assemble strong grant applications. Thankfully, a new initiative is helping these communities apply for the funding to help their infrastructure.
The 10,000 Communities Initiative is being launched by the Milken Institute, a nonprofit think tank, and is helping small communities access funding from the IIJA over the next year.
“The Inflation Reduction Act and bipartisan infrastructure bill allocated $11 billion to predevelopment funding,” said Dan Carol, senior director of the institute’s Center for Financial Markets, in a press release, “yet there are few frameworks or processes to ensure that these funds and other non-federal capital reach the communities who need it the most.”
In order to help these smaller communities, the 10,000 Communities Initiative launched an online platform where cities, counties, states, nonprofit organizations and others can upload their projects to be connected to training materials, tools, partners, investors, and communities who are working on the same sort of projects and challenges.
The initiative is asking local leaders, businesses, and non-profits to hold local training events to help accelerate the application process and projects. The Milken Institute is also asking different organizations to help by providing funding for projects, services, and training.
Some current partners include Accelerator for America, Rural Community Assistance Partnership, and the Local Initiatives Support Coalition.
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Source: Route-fifty.com
