Applicant organizations should articulate a clearly defined strategy to leverage grant funds to support one or more of the following activities to help address the needs of and unique operating environment necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic:
- Scaling biotechnology, health security, and supply chain technologies to market;
- Increasing regional, national, and government connectivity to support commercialization and entrepreneurship;
- Developing new and unique investment capital models to address the financial needs of entrepreneurs; and/or,
- Developing and scaling entrepreneurship support models to address the virtual and remote work environment of the pandemic.
Interested applicants are encouraged to attend an informational webinar on Oct. 28 at 2 p.m. EDT that will provide a strategic overview and highlight program goals, as well as address technical application questions. Registration is now open for the webinar, “Building Resilience through Innovation: EDA’s SPRINT Challenge.” The webinar, with representatives from EDA, the NADO Research Foundation and SSTI, may be particularly useful for applicants new to EDA’s application procedures, or those who are unfamiliar with the requirements under EDA’s Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) program, such as Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) alignment, grant rates, and economic distress.
Applicants may request up to $500,000 in federal funds over a 12-month period, or $750,000 over 18 months. EDA expects to fund up to 80 percent of eligible project costs. Applications are due by Dec. 3.