Grants and Opportunities Board

Grants

USDA Forest Service Urban & Community Forestry 2022 Challenge Cost Share Grant Program 
Application Deadline: April 8, 2022
Through this Notice of Funding Availability (NFA), the Forest Service is seeking to create a national innovative messaging campaign for the Urban and Community Forestry Program that raises awareness of the critical and urgent need to plan, grow, and manage our urban forests to benefit all. The USDA Forest Service seeks innovative (new, cutting-edge or builds upon existing programs) grant proposals for program development, study, and collaboration that will address urban and community forest public awareness and education as it aligns with the goals in the National Ten Year Urban and Community Forestry Action Plan (2016-2026).

Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program 
Application Deadline: April 11, 2022  
The Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP) provides grants to help eligible processors expand their capacity. USDA Rural Development designed the MPPEP to encourage competition and sustainable growth in the U.S. meat processing sector, and to help improve supply chain resiliency. 

U.S. Department of Transportation Announces Availability of $1.5 Billion in RAISE Grants Made Possible by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law 
Application Deadline: April 14, 2022 
The U.S. Department of Transportation has published a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for $1.5 billion in grant funding through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) discretionary grant program. The popular program helps communities around the country carry out projects with significant local or regional impact. RAISE discretionary grants, which were originally created under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as TIGER grants, can be used for a wide variety of projects. Recent examples of funded projects include dedicated bus lanes in Baltimore, highway and bridge repair in New Mexico, dock replacements in Alaska, and a rail-to-trail project in Arkansas. Overall, USDOT has awarded $9.9 billion to more than 700 projects. 

Apprenticeship Building America (ABA) Grant Program
Application Deadline: April 25, 2022
The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a grant program to strengthen, modernize, expand and diversify its Registered Apprenticeship Program to enable more workers to earn while they learn and find reliable pathways to the middle class. Part of President Biden’s ongoing strategy to strengthen Registered Apprenticeships, the department’s “Apprenticeship Building America” program will make $113 million in grant funding available, including up to $50 million to support equity partnerships and pre-apprenticeship activities to increase enrollment in Registered Apprenticeship Programs. The grants will further the Biden-Harris administration’s goals and priorities for a strong and equitable post-pandemic economic recovery by connecting Americans to good quality jobs in priority industry sectors, including critical supply chain industries and among populations disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

HMGP Funding for the Remnants of Hurricane Ida Application Deadline: May 4, 2022 
The New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) is pleased to announce the availability of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funds for Presidential Declaration: DR-4615 (Remnants of Hurricane Ida). 

USDA Rural Development Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant Program 
Applications Accepted on a Rolling Basis
Community Facilities Programs offer direct loans, loan guarantees and grants to develop or improve essential public services and facilities in communities across rural America. Use this map to see if your organization is eligible. Funds can be used to purchase, construct, and/or improve essential community facilities, to purchase equipment, and to pay related project expenses.

Opportunities

IIJA Broadband Programs Pre-NOFO Technical Assistance Webinar #3 
Wednesday, April 6 | 2:30pm – 4:00pm ET  
NTIA’s pre-NOFO technical assistance webinars are designed to help prospective applicants understand NTIA’s IIJA broadband grant programs and to assist applicants to prepare high quality grant applications. This webinar will focus on enabling conditions. 

FCC Webinar: Affordable Connectivity Program and Broadband Mapping 
Monday, April 11 | 2:00 pm – 2:45 pm ET
The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) joins the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC) to discuss current programs including the Affordable Connectivity Program and their work to update broadband mapping.

FHWA: Everyday Counts Call (EDC) for Ideas 
The Call for Ideas for the next round of EDC is now open.  We encourage you and your members to submit proven, market-ready, transformative innovations that are adaptable, sustainable, equitable and safer for all and may be considered for the next round of EDC. The door is open through April 11, 2022. The website provides instructions for submitting your innovations and provides an opportunity to comment on the innovations of interest.

Register Now for NADTC’s New Virtual Course!  
NADTC’s newest virtual course, Building Skills for Successful Transportation Program Delivery, aims to improve skills needed to develop accessible materials and collect data from surveys and other available tools for your transportation program. You will learn how to use that data to engage the community to improve services ensuring customers’ needs are being met.  Each of the four modules is designed for participants to build skills from one session to the next, learning directly from industry leaders who will present examples from the field.

Building Skills for Successful Transportation Program Delivery
Wednesday, April 13 – Wednesday, May 4
NADTC’s newest virtual course, Building Skills for Successful Transportation Program Delivery, aims to improve skills needed to develop accessible materials and collect data from surveys and other available tools for your transportation program. You will learn how to use that data to engage the community to improve services ensuring customers’ needs are being met. Each of the four modules is designed for participants to build skills from one session to the next, learning directly from industry leaders.

FHWA Office of Stewardship, Oversight, and Management is offering a free training pilot aimed at public sector transportation practitioners 
FHWA Office of Stewardship, Oversight, and Management is partnering with the online education provider, edX, to offer a free training pilot aimed at public sector transportation practitioners who want to improve their skills and earn professional certificates. This flyer gives a brief overview of the program, eligibility, course content areas, and the types of professional certificates offered. Course enrollments and certificates are available at no cost to public sector employees working in transportation. Participants need to enroll in courses by July 31, 2022.

Digital Equity 2022 Webinar Series 
Wednesday, April 20 | 2:00pm – 3:00pm ET  
Join NLC and guest experts for this virtual series to get up to speed on what your city needs to know to improve digital equity, make investments in broadband infrastructure and internet access and take advantage of new federal funding for connectivity. 

Evolving to AWS Cloud 
Friday, April 22 | 1:00pm – 2:00pm ET  
Join this session hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS) to learn how cloud computing can help government organizations enhance mission-critical operations, improve access to data, and meet increasing community demands for digital services. 

NARC Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Working Group Meeting 
Thursday, April 28, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. eastern 
The next meeting of the NARC Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) Working Group will take place on Thursday, April 28. More information about this month’s meeting will be distributed next week, including an agenda, information about our guest speaker, and a survey instrument that we hope you will fill out.