With the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a flood of grants has become available for the infrastructure projects of local governments. However, smaller cities and towns may struggle in applying for federal infrastructure grants.
Bloomberg Philanthropies has launched a program, with a $50 million initial investment, which aims to provide support to communities as they develop their applications for the federal funding.
Bloomberg Philanthropies had further provided:
The Hub will bring together nonprofits, city networks, academics, and policy experts to provide direct support to communities as they develop applications, including: one-on-one coaching, webinars, on-demand answers to pressing questions, data analysis, guidance from issue experts on a range of infrastructure-related topics, and easily accessible information on the rules and timeframes for specific funding opportunities.
First, the hub will help local leaders navigate and understand the large quantities of information from the federal government on the nearly 400 funding opportunities available. And second, it will help cities and towns develop competitive funding applications that are most likely to be awarded federal grants. There will be a special focus on helping traditionally underserved cities and towns prepare competitive proposals as they often lack easy access to national networks, expertise, and other supports that can improve their chances of drawing down federal resources.
