Strategic Economic and Community Development

Strategic Economic and Community Development is a Farm Bill provision that allows USDA to give priority for projects that support the implementation of regional economic development plans through the following four USDA Rural Development programs:

Purpose

Projects that promote regional economic development can capitalize upon the unique strengths of specific rural areas. USDA Rural Development helps finance these projects by helping applicants overcome multi-jurisdictional challenges and by helping leverage federal, state, local or private funding.  Regionally focused projects help USDA resources have a larger impact, enabling greater wealth creation and quality of life improvements.

Application Process

Detailed instructions on what qualifies as a multi-jurisdictional plan, scoring criteria and award process | SECD Instructions

Application Form (Form RD 1980-88)

Eligibility

To be eligible for SECD, a project must:

  • Be eligible for the underlying program
  • Be carried out solely in a rural area
  • Support a multi-jurisdictional strategic economic community development plan

Consideration for regional development priority will be based on:
(1) How well the project supports a multi-jurisdictional plan, and
(2) How well the plan addresses collaboration and investments from other federal and philanthropic agencies.

For More Information

Please contact your local USDA Rural Development office: http://www.rd.usda.gov/contact-us/state-offices or contact Hiwot Gebremariam in the national office at RDCED@wdc.USDA.gov

Category: USDA Rural Development, Federal Incentives

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