U.S. Department of Commerce Invests $500,000 to Support Regional Innovation and Economic Growth in Disaster-Impacted Northwest Louisiana

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 -- The U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration issued the following news release on Sept. 30:

Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $500,000 grant to Grambling State University, a Historically Black University in Grambling, Louisiana, to conduct a feasibility study that will serve as a road map to foster innovation and economic resiliency in the disaster-impacted Northwest Louisiana region. The EDA grant will be matched with $125,000 in local investment.

"The Trump Administration is committed to helping communities advance disaster recovery and resiliency plans designed to diversify and grow their economies," said Dana Gartzke, Performing the Delegated Duties of the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development. "Grambling State University will lead a feasibility study that supports asset identification, development of public and private partnerships, and resilient economic development strategies that will directly impact six Northwest Louisiana parishes."

This project is funded by the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act of 2019 (Pub. L. 116-20) (PDF), which provided EDA with $600 million in additional Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) Program (PDF) Program funds for disaster relief and recovery for areas affected by Hurricanes Florence, Michael, and Lane, Typhoons Yutu and Mangkhut, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, and other major natural disasters occurring in calendar year 2018, and tornadoes and floods occurring in calendar year 2019, under the Robert T. Stafford Act. Please visit EDA's Disaster Supplemental webpage for more information.

The funding announced today will serve three of Louisiana's 150 Opportunity Zones. Created by President Donald J. Trump's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, Opportunity Zones are spurring economic development in economically-distressed communities nationwide. In June 2019, EDA added Opportunity Zones as an Investment Priority, which increases the number of catalytic Opportunity Zone-related projects that EDA can fund to fuel greater public investment in these areas. To learn more about the Commerce Department's work in Opportunity Zones, please visit EDA's Opportunity Zones webpage. To learn more about the Opportunity Zone program, see the Opportunity Now resources webpage. To learn more about Opportunity Zone best practices, see the recently released White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council Report to President Trump.

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REPORT: https://opportunityzones.hud.gov/sites/opportunityzones.hud.gov/files/documents/OZ_Best_Practices_Report.pdf