Unlock Funding for Local Job Creation & Business Growth

This announcement is modified. The Office of Grants Management Contact has been changed in Section VII. HHS Awarding Agency Contact(s). The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Community Services (OCS) will award approximately $13.1 million in Community Economic Development (CED) discretionary grant funds to Community Development Corporations (CDC) for well-planned, financially viable, and innovative projects to enhance job creation and business development for individuals with low income.

CED grants will be made as part of a broader strategy to address objectives such as decreasing dependency on federal programs, chronic unemployment, and community deterioration in urban and rural areas. CED projects are expected to actively recruit individuals with low income to fill the positions created by CED-funded development activities, to assist those individuals to successfully hold those jobs and to ensure that the businesses and jobs created remain viable for at least one year after the end of the grant period. CED-funded projects can be non-construction or construction projects, however, short-term construction jobs associated with preparing for business startup or expansion are not counted when determining the number of jobs created under the CED program as they are designed to be temporary in nature. OCS is encouraging applications from CDCs to target hurricane disaster areas, rural areas, and underserved areas: 21 states and territories that do not have active CED projects: Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Federated States of Micronesia, Georgia, Guam, Idaho, Iowa, Marshall Islands, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Republic of Palau, Rhode Island, U.S.

Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Wyoming. Furthermore, OCS is encouraging projects that align with the Promise Zones Initiative or Choice Neighborhoods Program and Opportunity Zones.