Agencies announce regional cluster grants.

On May 20, the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA), the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA), and the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced the availability of funding under the new “Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge.” This Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO), which was designed by the interagency Taskforce for the Advancement of Regional Innovation Clusters (TARIC), will provide approximately $33 million in grants and other assistance to support economic and workforce development activities tied to “regional innovation clusters” (RICs).

The new FFO combines funding from EDA, ETA, and SBA into a single application process, with up to 20 cluster-focused projects receiving combined grants of between $1.5 and $2.2 million to support their efforts. Applicants must propose projects that meet the criteria of each funding source, with distinct and non-overlapping activities that can be supported through the three funding streams. Applications must clearly identify the geographical region and industry cluster that will be targeted, as well as the economic, business, workforce and social inclusion needs of the targeted cluster that the proposed project will address.

Applicants – whether single organizations or partnerships - must be eligible to receive funds from all three sources of funding in order to qualify for this grant opportunity. This can be a single organization that qualifies for grant funding under each of the funding sources, or a team of organizations that collectively qualify for each grant.

ETA will award up to $20 million under its H-1B Technical Skills Training Grant Program to support education, training, and employment activities for U.S. workers to help them obtain or advance in jobs in occupations and industries for which employers are currently using H-1B visas to hire foreign workers.  These four-year grants are distinct from the H-1B funded grants recently announced by ETA under a separate Solicitation for Grant Applications (SGA) on May 2nd.  

• Eligible entities include business-related non-profit organizations; education and training providers (including community-based organizations); entities involved in administering the public workforce system under Title I of WIA; and economic development agencies. Eligible entities must partner with at least one employer, and must partner with a public workforce system entity if the grantee is not such an entity. 
• Training strategies that may be supported through these grants include, but are not limited to, on-the-job training (OJT), classroom occupational training, contextualized learning, distance learning, and customized training (including for incumbent workers).
• Funds may be used to support a wide range of costs including training costs, curriculum development, accreditation of employer- or industry-recognized credentials, skills assessments, and job placement assistance. Supportive services may not be funded under these grants.
• Eligible participants include incumbent workers, unemployed workers, and post-secondary students pursuing high-skilled occupations. Training may not be provided for entry-level occupations. Applicants are encouraged to consider providing training and placement assistance to long-term unemployed individuals, including individuals who have exhausted, or may soon exhaust, unemployment insurance benefits.
• No match is required for these grants, though applicants are encouraged to provide leveraged resources to support related activities that are not allowable costs under the grant itself.

EDA will award up to $10 million in non-construction assistance under its Economic Adjustment Assistance Program to support a wide range of regional economic development activities, including technical assistance, feasibility studies, planning activities, technology or process development, cluster networking, market expansion, and other activities.

• Eligible entities include District Organizations (as defined under EDA regulations); Indian tribes or consortia of tribes; states, cities, or other political subdivisions of states; institutions of higher education or consortia of such institutions; and public or private non-profit organizations acting in cooperation with a political subdivision of a state.
• Grants may be awarded to regions meeting certain economic distress criteria, including high unemployment rates, low per capita income, or “special needs” such as substantial population loss, underemployment, natural disasters, or other economic hardships.
• Non-federal cash or in-kind matching contributions are required under these grants.
• Assistance will be available for up to two years, although EDA can extend the grant period under certain circumstances.

SBA will provide approximately $3 million for technical assistance to small businesses as part of its 7(j) Technical Assistance Program. Funds may be awarded to qualified public or private non-profit or for-profit entities to provide business training, counseling, and other services to eligible small businesses, including firms operated by low-income and socially disadvantaged individuals. Matching contributions are not required, but applicants are required to maximize efforts to leverage SBA funds through work with chambers of commerce, industry associations, and other public and private organizations.

Though not directly providing grant assistance as part of the Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge, the Department of Education (which is part of the TARIC) is encouraging recipients of career and technical education (CTE) and adult education grants to make efforts to align programs and activities with potential employment opportunities resulting from this FFO. Other federal agencies - including the Departments of Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and others – will provide technical assistance and other support to selected grantees.

Applicants are strongly encouraged, though not required, to submit letters of intent to apply for grants by June 10, 2011. Applications are due by July 7, 2011, with awards expected to be announced in September. The three funding agencies will host an information teleconference for prospective applicants on June 7.