January 15, 2024

 

Great Opportunity!

IIJA/IRA Build for the Future Summit, January 17th. Hosted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, this summit is designed to help stakeholders like YOU better understand the myriad of funding opportunities and tax incentives included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, with an aim to better design, combine, and leverage those collective programs – with an emphasis on those with a housing nexus.

 

See Flyer & Agenda I sent on 1-15-24

 

Sign-Up Here

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Senator Hickenlooper’s Grant Digest, a bi-weekly compilation of federal grant opportunities. This is a great source of current and upcoming grants of interest to Colorado.

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https://www.ertb.org/

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USDA-RD Rural Business Development Grants

The purpose of the program is to promote economic development and job creation projects through the awarding of grant funds to eligible entities. Applications will compete in two separate categories, business opportunity grants and business enterprise grants, for use in funding various business and
community projects that serve rural areas. 

 

USDA-RD Single Family Housing Repair Loans & Grants in Colorado

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Also known as the Section 504 Home Repair program, this provides loans to very-low-income homeowners to repair, improve or modernize their homes or grants to elderly very-low-income homeowners to remove health and safety hazards.

 

Help is Available for EPA Clean School Bus Rebate Applications

The Governor's Office is offering assistance to eligible school districts who want to apply for electric buses through the January 31, 2024 EPA Clean School Bus rebate program. We have a consultant on board ready to assist with things like: 

·  registering for Sam.gov

·  answering eligibility and competitiveness questions

·  facilitating partnership coordination and utility conversations

·  assisting with application preparation and submission

 

Applicants can request up to 25 buses, EV charging equipment and infrastructure, and funds for workforce training. EPA is prioritizing high-need school districts and low-income areas, rural school districts, Bureau of Indian Affairs-funded school districts, and school districts that receive basic support payments for children who reside on Indian land. Our consultant can help you determine if your school district is prioritized. 

 

Contact Wendy Hawthorne right away if you need assistance. 

wendy.hawthorne@state.co.us  

 

If anyone asks, we will also be available to assist with the August E-bus applications, but we're not getting started on that yet. We'll do another announcement, but we can take names of interested parties now. 
 

Out of Office

I will be out of the office January 19th through February 3rd.

 

IIJA has set out its webinar calendar for 2024, you can register for these using the links in the newsletter.

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January 5, 2024

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NOFO Correction – Community Connect Program

 

On December 19, 2023, the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) published a correction notice in the Federal Register. The correction notice makes important changes to the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Community Connect Program for Fiscal Year 2023, published on March 20, 2023, and extends the Community Connect Program application window until February 20, 2024.

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More information can be found here

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IRS Tax Credits

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“ Elective pay makes certain clean energy tax credits effectively refundable. With elective pay, an eligible entity that qualifies for a clean-energy investment tax credit can notify the IRS of their intent to claim the credit and file an annual tax return to claim elective pay for the full value of the credit. The IRS would then pay the local government the value of the credit.”

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Read more about this here

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Bootcamps for Federal Grants

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Is your jurisdiction interested in submitting a federal grant? The Bootcamps mentioned here can be a great help.

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OEDIT Newsletter

 

 

USDA Rural Business Development Grant

The purpose of the program is to promote economic development and job creation projects through the awarding of grant funds to eligible entities. Applications will compete in two separate categories, business opportunity grants and business enterprise grants, for use in funding various business and community projects that serve rural areas. 

CHFA Direct Effect Awards

Congratulations to the following non-profits who were awarded funds in the 2023 2nd round of CHFA’s Direct Effect Awards

·         Rural Communities Resource Center (Yuma)

·         Ogallala Commons, Inc

·         Phillips County Family Education Services

Applications for the CHFA’s 2024 Direct Effect Awards will be announced in early 2024, CHFA’s Direct Effect Awards recognize Colorado nonprofit organizations whose missions align with CHFA’s work to strengthen Colorado by investing in affordable housing and community development.

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If you have not already done so, please take a minute to fill out the IIJA Project Partnership Interest Form. This will close Wednesday, December 6th.

 

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