White House announces winners of the Build Back Better Regional Challenge

The White House has announced the 21 winners of the $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge. Funded by President Biden’s America Rescue Plan and administered by the U.S. Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA), the challenge provides winners with funding between $25 million and $65 million to rebuild regional economies.

“Since day one, President Biden has been laser-focused on ensuring that economic opportunity is delivered to all Americans, especially communities that have grappled with decades of disinvestment or suffered economic distress exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a statement. “As we invest and grow critical industries in the U.S., we want to create industry hubs in diverse communities across the country. These grants will provide critical and historic funding directly to community coalitions to invest in new infrastructure, research and development, and workforce development programs while creating good-paying jobs, supporting workers, and prioritizing equity.”

Winning projects are varied, from developing workforce training programs and connecting workers to jobs to deploying solar energy on former coal land. According to the White House, equity was a key consideration for project finalists, with a focus on rural, Tribal and coal communities, as well as communities facing high and persistent poverty. For example, $87 million was awarded to two primarily Tribal coalitions and, as part of EDA’s $300 million Coal Community Commitment, more than $150 million for projects serving energy communities impacted by the declining use of fossil fuels. These grants will support 236 rural counties, 136 persistent poverty counties, and 121 counties that include Tribal areas.

The 21 winning projects were chosen from 60 EDA-designated finalists that each received approximately $500,000 in funding and technical assistance to continue developing their cluster strategies. The funding for each coalition listed is approximate, with awards to be signed later in September. According to the White House, EDA will continue to support all 60 finalists with the creation of a Community of Practice that will provide technical support, foster connectedness with peer regions and build capacity.

The winners of the Build Back Better Regional Challenge are:

Central Valley Community Foundation (California)
$65.1 million for the F3 – Fresno-Merced Future of Food

City of Manchester (New Hampshire)
$44 million for The BioFabrication Cluster

Coalfield Development (West Virginia)
$62.8 million for the Appalachian Climate Technologies (ACT Now) Initiative

Detroit Regional Partnership Foundation (Michigan)
$52.2 million for the Global Epicenter of Mobility

Empire State Development (New York)
$25 million for the Western New York’s Advanced Manufacturing Cluster

Four Bands Community Fund (South Dakota)
$45 million for the Mountain | Plains Regional Native CDFI Coalition

Georgia Tech Research Corporations (Georgia)
$65 million for GA-AIM

Greater New Orleans Development Foundation (Louisiana)
$50 million for H2theFuture

Greater St. Louis Inc. (Missouri)
$25 million for the St. Louis Tech Triangle

Indian Nations Council of Governments (Oklahoma)
$39 million for the Tulsa Regional Advanced Mobility Cluster

Invest Nebraska Corporation (Nebraska)
$25 million for the Heartland Robotics Cluster

North Carolina Biotechnology Center (North Carolina)
$25 million for Accelerate NC – Life Sciences Manufacturing

Oklahoma City Economic Development Foundation (Oklahoma)
$35 million for the Oklahoma Biotech Innovation Cluster Initiative

Osceola County Board of County Commissioners (Florida)
$50.8 million for the Building Central Florida’s Semiconductor Cluster for Broad-Based Prosperity

Port of Portland (Oregon)
$41.4 million for the Oregon Mass Timber Coalition

Southeast Conference (Alaska)
$49 million for the Alaska Mariculture Cluster

Southwestern Pennsylvania New Economy Collaborative (Pennsylvania)
$62.7 million for the Southwestern Pennsylvania New Economy Collaborative

The State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton (New York)
$63.7 million for New Energy New York

The University of Texas at El Paso (Texas)
$40 million for the West Texas A&D Cluster

Virginia Biotechnology Research Partnership Authority (Virginia)
$52.9 million for the VA BIO Advanced Pharma Manufacturing (APM) and R&D

Wichita State University (Kansas)
$51.4 million for the South Kansas Coalition

In a statement, Alejandra Y. Castillo, assistant secretary of commerce for economic development, said: “EDA is proud to ignite the bold visions of these 21 regional coalitions to craft ambitious and regionally driven plans to rebuild their communities. EDA asked communities directly what they needed to attract industry and workers to their region, and these grants are a direct response to their needs. Not only will the projects offer clear pathways to good jobs and competitive wages, but they will ensure that economic-based prosperity reaches all pockets of this country.”

The Build Back Better Regional Challenge is one of EDA’s programs aimed at building strong regional economies and supporting community-led economic development. Grantees for EDA’s full suite of American Rescue Plan programs will be awarded on a rolling basis through September 30, 2022.