Funding Opportunities Supporting
Community and Economic Development
Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG)
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
USDA Rural Development provides funding to help agricultural producers enter value-added activities to generate new products, create and expand marketing opportunities, and increase producer income. Fact Sheet. Application Deadline: *Prepare Now*
New Markets Tax Credit Program
U.S. Department of Treasury (DOT) Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund offers tax incentives for investments in business and economic development projects in distressed areas, including capital investments in healthcare facilities. Application Deadline: 1/29/2025
Next Level Now Technical Assistance Collaborative
Department of Labor (DOL)
DOL’s Employment and Training Administration offers funding to support a cooperative agreement to provide a Technical Assistance Collaborative to help public workforce system entities, at the state and local levels, improve services supporting job seekers and employers who use the public workforce system. Application Deadline: 2/4/2025
USDA Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant Program
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Rural Development supports zero-interest loans and grants for current and former eligible Rural Utilities Service borrowers who then use the funds to help local businesses finance projects that create/retain jobs or support community facility projects. Application Deadline: Quarterly
Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Rural Development loans and grants support Microenterprise Development Organization to establish revolving loan funds. Application Deadline: Quarterly
Intermediary Relending Program
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Rural Development provides funds to local lenders or “intermediaries” that re-lend to businesses to improve economic conditions and create new opportunities in rural communities. Application Deadline: Quarterly
Rural Veterans Health Access Program
Health and Human Services (HHS)HHS, in consultation with the Department of Veterans Affairs, award recipients to work with providers and other partners to improve access to needed healthcare services and to improve the coordination of care for veterans living in rural areas. Application Deadline: 2/5/2025
U.S. Department of Energy Demonstration Funding for Energy Improvement in Rural/Remote Areas
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
DOE offers this funding opportunity to support rural and remote communities to build clean energy projects that benefit communities of 10,000 people or fewer. Letters of Intent: 2/27/2025
Community Wildfire Defense Grant
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Forest Service offers this program to assist at-risk communities, including tribes and Alaska Native Corporations, with planning for and mitigating wildfire risks. Application Deadline: 2/28/2025
Rural Business Development Grants
U.S. Department of Agriculture USDA Rural Development grants funds for business opportunities and enterprise projects to organizations, including nonprofit cooperatives, that may be used to establish business support centers, finance trainings/leadership programs, purchase/develop land, repair/modernize buildings, finance planning, or buy equipment to lease to small or emerging businesses. Application Deadline: 2/28/2025USDA 1890 National Scholars Program
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA’s Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement is accepting applications for this program which aims to encourage students at 1890 land-grant universities to pursue career paths in food, agriculture, natural resource sciences, or related academic disciplines. Application Deadline: 3/1/2025
FY2024 Historic Preservation Fund – Semiquincentennial Grants
Department of the Interior (DOI)
DOI’s National Park Service provides funding to support the physical preservation of a broad variety of cultural resources associated with the founding of America as a nation in commemoration of the country’s semiquincentennial (250th anniversary). Application Deadline: 3/18/2025
Rural and Tribal Assistance Pilot Program
U.S. Department of Transportation
DOT offers funding to support transportation project development in rural and tribal communities that may lead to future applications to DOT credit and grant programs. Funding can support legal, technical, and financial advisors to help advance infrastructure projects. Application Deadline: The NOFO application portal opens on 3/4/2025, and closes on 4/3/2025Challenge America
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
NEA offers funding to support projects that extend the reach of the arts to underserved groups/communities. Join a Webinar on 2/27. Application Deadlines: 4/24/2025
Community Energy Innovation Prize
U.S. Department of Energy
DOE offers this competition to support grassroots innovation, entrepreneurship, capacity building, and economic development for clean energy programs to support activities that address local challenges for energy efficiency, manufacturing, and transportation. Application Deadline: 6/20/2025
Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) – Foundational and Applied Science Program
U.S. Department of Agriculture USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture supports grants in six AFRI priority areas to advance knowledge in both fundamental and applied sciences important to agriculture. The six priority areas are: Plant Health and Production and Plant Products; Animal Health and Production and Animal Products; Food Safety, Nutrition, and Health; Bioenergy, Natural Resources, and Environment; Agriculture Systems and Technology; and Agriculture Economics and Rural Communities. Application Deadline: 12/31/2025
Funding Opportunities for Infrastructure
Community Facilities Programs
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Rural Development provides funding to develop or improve essential public services and facilities. Projects include fire and rescue stations, town halls, health care clinics, hospitals, childcare centers, assisted living facilities, rehabilitation centers, public buildings, schools, libraries, and many other community-based initiatives. Application Deadline: Open
Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) Renewable Energy Systems & Energy Efficiency Improvement Loans & Grants
U.S. Department of Agriculture USDA Rural Development offers this program to provide funding to agricultural producers and rural small businesses for renewable energy systems and for energy efficiency improvements. Agricultural producers may also apply for new energy efficient equipment and new system loans to support production and processing. Application Deadline: Quarterly
Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Grant Program
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)
DOT offers grants for capital investments in unmet infrastructure needs with an emphasis on rural areas and tribal lands. Application Deadline: 1/30/2025
Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas
U.S. Department of Energy DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) introduces this new opportunity to provide support for rural and remote communities to build clean energy projects that benefit their communities. This program serves communities of 10,000 people or fewer. For more clean energy funding opportunities at OCED click here. Concept Paper Due: 2/27/2025
High Energy Cost Grant
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Rural Development offers funding to help providers offset costs for people whose household energy expenses total 275% of the national average or higher. The program helps state and local governments, federally recognized Tribes and nonprofit agencies acquire, construct, extend, upgrade or otherwise improve energy generation, transmission or distribution facilities. Application Deadline: 2/28/2025
Rural Decentralized Water Systems Grant Program
U.S. Department of Agriculture USDA Rural Development provides funding to qualified nonprofits, including tribally owned nonprofits, to create a revolving loan fund or to award sub-grants to homeowners for supporting access to individually owned water and wastewater services in eligible rural areas. Application Deadline: 3/3/2025
Rural Water Loan Fund (RWLF)
National Rural Water Association
This program is specifically designed to meet the unique needs of small water and wastewater utilities through low-cost loans for short-term repair costs, small capital projects, or pre-development costs associated with larger projects. The RWLF was established through a grant from USDA. Application Deadline: Open
Rural Housing Site Loans
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Rural Development offers specific loans to eligible entities to purchase and develop housing sites for low- and moderate-income income families. Application Deadline: Open
Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program Grants
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Rural Development offers this competitive program to help rural communities use advanced telecommunications technology to connect to each other – and the world – overcoming the effects of remoteness and low population density. Application Deadline: Open
Rural Business Development Grant Program to Provide Technical Assistance for Rural Transportation Systems for Fiscal Year 2025
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Rural Development offers funding for technical assistance and training for transportation agencies to improve passenger transportation services and facilities. Application Deadline: 4/7/2025
Community Connect Program
U.S. Department of Agriculture USDA Rural Development provides funds to establish high-speed internet networks that will foster economic growth and deliver enhanced educational, health care and public safety benefits. Application Deadline: Opens 2/20/24 and closes 4/21/2025. Prepare Now!
USDA Launches Pilot Program to Help Rural Homeowners, Including People Affected by Disasters, More Quickly Access Funding to Repair Their Homes
Applicants in select states and territories may use the Single Family Housing Home Repair Loans and Grants program funding to pay contractors or suppliers for construction materials prior to delivery. This program provides loans to very-low-income homeowners to repair, improve or modernize their homes. It also provides grants to elderly very-low-income homeowners to remove health and safety hazards.
USDA Final Rule – Manufactured Housing Provisions
This Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on January 3, 2025, implementing changes to 7 CFR 3550, which makes existing manufactured homes, which meet specific criteria, eligible for financing. The effective date of the Final Rule is March 4, 2025.