Summary:

The Virginia Collaborative Economic Development Performance Grant program is designed to encourage regional collaborative economic development initiatives. Participating localities may enter into a CED Plan which, among other things, identifies: (i) the type of collaboration - to implement general economic development and diversification efforts or to address a specific economic development need, including infrastructure and workforce training, of a company; and (ii) the commitments made by each of the participating localities, including the sharing of costs and local tax revenues and how CED Grants will be distributed among and used by the participating localities.

The CED Grant must be used for economic development activities aligned with the CED Plan. A CED Grant is available to participating localities that can demonstrate that such an initiative led to a company's location or expansion in the participating localities and the company's creation of at least 200 new jobs and capital investment of at least $25 million in the participating localities. A full list of required materials and documents are found on the program website.

Eligible Recipients:

Local Government

Eligible Recipients Detail:

"Participating Localities" means two or more localities, a combination of counties, cities, towns in conjunction with the surrounding county or counties, political subdivisions and/or public bodies corporate and politic.

Eligible Purpose:

General Infrastructure (Attached to Job Creation); Last Mile Infrastructure; Middle Mile Infrastructure

Eligible Purpose Detail:

A CED Grant must be used for economic development activities aligned with the CED Plan including:

-Public and private utility extension or capacity development on and off site;
-public and private installation, extension, or capacity development of high-speed or broadband Internet access, whether on or off site;
-road, rail, public transportation, or other transportation access costs beyond the funding capability of existing programs;
-site acquisition; grading, drainage, paving, and any other activity required to prepare a site for construction;
-construction of publicly or privately owned buildings or build-out of publicly or privately owned buildings;
-training;
-grants or loans to an industrial development authority, housing and redevelopment authority, or other political subdivision for purposes directly relating to any of the foregoing;
-workforce training initiatives, or career and technical education at the secondary education level that assist targeted industries identified in the Economic Growth and Diversification Plan of the associated region;
-environmental costs such as nutrient trading credit trading, permit costs and so forth; workforce housing; small business assistance to assist with local supply chain and services; or other uses approved by the Board that will enhance broad based economic cooperation. In no case may funds be used, directly or indirectly, to pay or guarantee the payment for any rental, lease, license, or other contractual right to the use of any property.