CED Program Planning Grant

Current as of:
CED planning grants support the development of new job creation projects. Image of people working at table.

The Community Economic Development (CED) program within the Office of Community Services (OCS) reduces poverty by creating jobs for individuals with low income in communities with high unemployment and poverty rates. Each year, CED grants are awarded to nonprofit community development corporations (CDCs) who intimately understand the unique assets and challenges in their communities. These CDCs work to develop businesses that create high quality jobs for residents and meet their communities’ market needs. 

CED projects are created through community-driven economic development. These efforts take time, staff availability, and resources to identify community needs and find ways to address them through business development, and many local CDCs do not have the capacity to do this. At their current capacities, many communities that would benefit from CED funds are not able to submit a successful grant application.

To address this gap, the CED program created new CED planning grants to fund capacity building and provide the time and resources that CDCs need to develop a successful traditional CED job creation grant application.

If you are a CED Planning grant recipient, check out the CED Planning toolkit module for adminstering your grant.

FY24 CED Planning Grants

OCS awarded $1.5 million in fiscal year 2024 to fund 10 new CED planning projects. Planning grants help the recipient organization develop a comprehensive and viable plan to spur economic development, with the aim of ultimately allowing recipients adequate time and resources to apply for a traditional CED job creation award.

View the FY24 CED Planning Grants Notice of Funding Opportunity (PDF) (NOFO). Please note that the CED NOFOs change every year, but viewing the FY24 CED Planning Grants NOFO can give prospective applicants an idea of what to expect in future grant competitions.

Building Capacity Through Planning Grants

New CED planning grants fund CDCs in persistent high-poverty areas with struggling economies that have been unable to put forth a viable CED project in the past. This brand-new funding helps CDCs build administrative capacity to design a sustainable business project and apply for a traditional CED job creation award.

Planning projects will use multiple strategies that include, but are not limited to:

  • Partnering with local organization
  • Identifying potential participating businesses
  • Implementing education and outreach efforts
  • Performing local business and market research
  • Identifying opportunities for obtaining additional funding

CED Planning Grants Awarded in FY 2024

The YWCA of Southern Arizona will use $150,000 in CED planning funds to develop a comprehensive plan to open the Tucson Public Marketplace, a multi-purpose space where the community can gather to shop, dine, and view local art in Tucson, Arizona.

Greater Dwight Development Cooperation will use $150,000 in CED planning funds to launch a new comprehensive neighborhood planning process to build administrative capacity and develop a viable CED project in Greater Dwight, Connecticut.

Penquis C.A.P., Inc. will use $150,000 in CED planning funds to develop a comprehensive business plan for creating sustainable economic development that creates new, full-time, permanent jobs for individuals with low incomes in the rural Maine Highlands region encompassing Penobscot and Piscataquis Counties, Maine.

Immigrant Development Center will use $150,000 in CED planning funds to develop a business plan for the Moorhead Cultural Mall, a vibrant community hub that showcases the region’s rich cultural diversity, project in Moorhead, Minnesota and Fargo, North Dakota. 

Reaching Infinity will use $150,000 in CED planning funds to develop a fundable CED project by implementing a case worker team that will work one-on-one with key participants to create a plethora of new small business jobs in areas with low income within Claiborne, Jefferson, and Copiah Counties, Mississippi.

South Wasco Alliance will use $150,000 in CED planning funds to develop a comprehensive plan detailing how businesses and jobs will be created in the following industries: health and social services, food production and food tourism, and tourism destination development in South Wasco County, Oregon.

Three Roots Capital will use $150,000 in CED planning funds to build the administrative capacity of the community to develop a fundable CED project to implement early childcare centers in census tracts with low income in Knoxville and surrounding counties, Tennessee.

Concho Valley Community Action Agency will use $150,000 in CED planning funds to further develop a plan to create the Concho Valley Rock Rose Community Campus, a housing development for unhoused individuals in San Angelo, Texas.

LiftFund, Inc. will use $150,000 in CED planning funds to build the administrative capacity of the community to develop Houston’s Low-Wealth, Diverse Neighborhoods initiative, which will implement a comprehensive planning and data collection process to identify strategies for supporting business and economic development in the North and Northeastern and South and Southeastern neighborhoods of Houston, Texas.

San Antonio for Growth on the Eastside, Inc. will use $150,000 in CED planning funds to develop a comprehensive, community-informed business plan to open a public market complex in San Antonio, Texas.

Previously Awarded CED Planning Grants

The Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama is using $150,000 in CED planning funds to develop a CED project to establish a centralized resource center and small business incubator for immigrant-owned businesses in Jefferson County, Alabama.

FRIENDS Foundation is using $147,031 in CED planning funds to develop a CED project to create the Empowering Sevier County's Entrepreneurs program, which will implement a comprehensive planning and data collection process to identify community-wide strategies for developing small and medium-sized businesses in Sevier County, Arkansas

New Opportunities, Inc. is using $150,000 in CED planning funds to hire a staff member to apply for community and economic development funding that will support business development and job creation projects in Waterbury, Connecticut.

Central Baptist Community Development Corporation is using $150,000 in CED planning funds to develop a CED project by engaging community stakeholders, building staff capacity, and producing an economic development visioning plan in Wilmington, Delaware.

Enterprising Latinas, Inc. is using $150,000 in CED planning funds to develop a CED project to establish the ARRIBA Transportation Business and Job Creation project, which will expand public transportation access and create new jobs in Hillsborough County, Florida.

Catalyst Development Corporation is using $150,000 in CED planning funds to develop a CED project to provide loans to create and expand minority-owned businesses and create jobs for individuals with low incomes in Savannah and Atlanta, Georgia.

Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project, Inc. is using $150,000 in CED planning funds to develop a CED project to expand its Small Business Development Initiative, which will provide small business loans to underrepresented business owners who otherwise may not be able to obtain funding in Burke and Wilkes Counties, Georgia.

Northwest Side Community Development Corporation is using $150,000 in CED planning funds to develop a CED project to establish a permanent central hub for businesses to receive business training and resources in the Belmont-Cragin neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois.

Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission, Inc. is using $148,688 in CED planning funds to develop a CED project to create and expand minority-owned businesses, which will subsequently generate new jobs in Northern Kentucky.

Mel Trotter Ministries is using $150,000 in CED planning funds to develop a CED project to create a revolving loan fund to identify, assess, and fund impact-driven job creators in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Leech Lake Financial Services, Inc. is using $147,440 in CED planning funds to develop a CED project to establish the Residential Construction Incubator to incubate residential construction-based businesses on the Leech Lake Reservation.

Midtown Partners, Inc. is using $150,000 in CED planning funds to develop a CED project to re-establish its Prosperity Center, which will provide employment opportunities and economic support services to individuals with low income in Jackson.

Community Services Agency is using $149,974 in CED planning funds to develop a CED project to establish early childhood education centers, which will create new, full-time jobs in childcare while expanding access to affordable childcare in Washoe County, Nevada.

Latin American Economic Development Association, Inc. is using $125,978 in CED planning funds to develop a CED project to establish the Food Business Development Center, a shared-kitchen facility for low- to moderate-income food entrepreneurs who do not have access to licensed kitchen facilities, in Camden, New Jersey.

Northwest New Jersey Community Action Partnership (NORWESCAP) is using $150,000 in CED planning funds to develop a CED project to transform a closed, local restaurant into a new food-related business venture to create jobs in Phillipsburg, New Jersey.

Visiones Collaborativas (Collaborative Visions) is using $149,127 in CED planning funds to develop the Plaza Nueva Project as an economic center that will expand employment opportunities in Mora County, New Mexico.

Eagle Market Street Development Corporation is using $150,000 in CED planning funds to develop a CED project to create the Catawba Vale Innovation Market by transforming a downtown warehouse into retail space to support local entrepreneurs in Old Fort, North Carolina.

The North Carolina Community Action Agency is using $150,000 in CED planning funds to develop a CED project to create the Growing Rural Opportunities for Work initiative that will create jobs for individuals with low income in the tiny home industry in Enfield, North Carolina.

Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation is using $150,000 in CED planning funds to develop a CED project to establish the Community Commercial Land Trust for Chinatown, which will support community-driven development and use of an affordable residential and commercial space to spur local business and job creation, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Southeastern Community Action Partnership is using $149,966 in CED planning funds to develop a CED project that will address transportation barriers to employment for individuals with low income by supporting regional public transportation in rural southeastern Utah.

Rural Community Development Resources is using $150,000 in CED planning funds to expand the Center for Legal Immigration Services to support immigrant entrepreneurs in the agriculture industry in Central Washington.