DOT announces $22M for the FY 2023 Thriving Communities Program
Eligible applicants: Forprofits, institutions of higher education, nonprofits, states, tribes, cities, special districts, and counties. Applications are due February 15, 2024.
Opportunity: Cooperative Agreements with Technical Assistance Providers for the FY 2023 Thriving Communities Program
Announcement Type: Grants notice, forecasted NOFO
Overview and Eligible Uses: This NOFO will continue investments in a national technical assistance program and provides new opportunities for state-, Tribal-, local-, and regional-level community support through the Thriving Communities Regional Pilot Program that will drive innovation, advance equity outcomes, and build a national pipeline of community-driven infrastructure projects. The Program will offer deep-dive technical assistance through cooperative agreements with eligible entities.
Entities awarded a cooperative agreement will be “capacity builders” that will directly assist local governments that request technical assistance. Priority is given to assisting communities that are disadvantaged and/or transportation burdened or those that have limited technical capacity or budgets. The intent of technical assistance is to plan for, prepare, secure funding for, and deliver transformative infrastructure projects.
Eligible TCP capacity builders should propose strategies to provide deep-dive technical assistance, planning and capacity building and build a robust Community of Practice involving diverse transportation and community stakeholders.
For FY 2023, DOT expects to award two different types of cooperative agreements:
TCP-National Capacity Builder cooperative agreements (TCP-N) may focus on specific subject areas to establish a national community of practice, supporting 15-20 communities across the country.
TCP-Regional Capacity Builder cooperative agreements (TCP-R) will identify communities for technical assistance without specializing in any particular subject area. Each TCP-R will collaborate with communities situated in specific regions.
Amount: A total of nine awards, with up to five awards expected for both TCP-R and TCP-N, will be granted, amounting to a funding total of $22 million. TCP-N awards are projected to range from $4 million to $5 million each, while TCP-Regional Capacity Builder cooperative agreements (TCP-R) are anticipated to be between $1 million and $2 million each.
Award Type: Cooperative Agreement
Eligible Applicants:
For profit organizations other than small businesses
Public and state controlled institutions of higher education
nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
State governments
Federally recognized Native American tribal governments
Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
City or township governments
Special district governments
Private institutions of higher education
County governments
For the TCP-N Capacity Builders, eligible lead applicants are non-profit organizations, philanthropic entities, and other technical assistance providers, with a demonstrated capacity to develop and provide technical assistance, planning, and capacity building to a range of communities located across multiple states and regions (i.e., applicants must demonstrate capacity to provide support at a national level, not just within specific regions or geographies).
For the TCP-R, eligible lead applicants are state governments and their agencies; local governments and their agencies; Tribal governments; regional, Tribal, or Statewide planning non-profit organizations; and governmental planning, economic development, or transportation organization working at the regional or metropolitan level involved with transportation issues.
Key Dates: The application will be posted on September 22, 2023, and applications will be due 75 days after publication of the NOFO (Dec 15, 2023).
The estimated award date is February 15, 2024, and projects will start in April 2024.
Key Links:
For a full list of currently available grant programs under the Infrastructure Law and other helpful tools, take a look at our Helpful Resources page.
This tracker will continue to send updates when new funding opportunities are announced.