ARC Application Development Grants for Make it in
America Challenge

ARC is making available up to $50,000 in funding to help organizations serving the Appalachian Region develop applications for the Make it in America Challenge, a national federal competition focused on increasing the insourcing of American jobs that either have moved overseas but are now more competitively sourced in America; can be created through foreign direct investment; or are currently U.S.-based but are subject to international competition and can be strengthened with targeted technical assistance. The challenge will award up to $40 million in federal funds from the Economic Development Administration, the National Institute of Standards and Technology-Manufacturing Extension Partnership, and the Employment and Training Administration to winning applicants.

To be eligible for a Make it in America Challenge award, projects must encourage insourcing, either by on-shoring productive activity by U.S. firms, fostering increased foreign direct investment, or supporting the growth of existing American businesses and jobs, as well as by training local workers to meet the needs of those businesses. The Make it in America Challenge federal funding opportunity (FFO) published March 18 at www.grants.gov provides detailed guidelines for submitting an application to the challenge.

ARC plans to reimburse organizations whose proposed projects will serve the Appalachian Region for costs incurred in developing a Make it in America Challenge application, with awards of up to $5,000 each. Reimbursable costs include expenses directly related to the development and writing of the application, including the costs of a professional grantwriter (either external or internal to the organization or organizations applying for the grants), costs for limited travel to facilitate meetings with the grantwriter and application partners, and reasonable costs for meetings of partners and grantwriters.

To be eligible for reimbursement of proposal development expenses, applicants must submit to ARC by email at [email protected] a letter of intent to participate in the challenge. The emailed letter of intent must be received by ARC by 5:00 p.m. on April 1, 2013. The letter must also include a point of contact in the applicant's organization, a list of the proposed partner organizations/applicant team members, and the area to be served by the project. ARC funding is limited for this activity and may not be sufficient to fund all requests. Applicants are encouraged to submit their letters of intent and accompanying information early to guarantee consideration of their application.

ARC funding applicants will be notified of their eligibility for reimbursement by April 8. To receive reimbursement, applicants will be asked to provide ARC with a list of actual expenses incurred in putting together the application, and evidence that their application has been successfully uploaded via Grants.gov to the Make it in America Challenge by the application deadline: 11:59 p.m. on May 31, 2013.

More Information on the Make it in America Challenge:

WorkforceOne Webcast Slides and Transcript: Make it in America Challenge

White House Blog: Administration Teams Up to Bring Jobs Back to America

U.S. Department of Commerce Fact Sheet: Make it in America Challenge