- Granting Agency: Department of Commerce
- Appropriation Amount: $500,000,000
- Grant Amount: Award Ceiling $25,000,000, Award Floor $1,000,000, No match
- Announcement Date: July 22, 2021
- Closing Date: Extended to February 10, 2022
Purpose: This program is designed to get Americans back to work and increase wage growth, as well as develop demand-driven systems that will continue to support Americans in securing and retaining quality jobs. Successful applicants will include proactive employer engagement and mobilization and employer commitments to hire (see Section A.1.b.v. below).
Eligible Expenditures: The ARPA Good Jobs Challenge is designed to meet the needs of businesses and workers in each type of region and help develop or strengthen dynamic regional workforce training systems and the sectoral partnerships they implement. EDA anticipates funding the following three phases of regional workforce training systems/sectoral partnerships, as applicable to regional needs, under the Good Jobs Challenge NOFO:
• System Development funding to help a System Lead Entity establish and develop a regional workforce training system comprised of multiple sector partnerships,
• Program Design funding for sectoral partnership(s) to identify the skills needed by industry and workers, develop the skills training curriculum and materials, and secure technical expertise needed to train workers with the skills needed by businesses, including providing professional development and capacity-building to trainers and educators, and
• Program Implementation funding to deliver workforce training and wrap-around services that place workers into quality jobs through a new or expanded sectoral partnership(s).
Eligible Applicants:
Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
County governments
Others (see text field entitled “Additional Information on Eligibility” for clarification)
City or township governments
Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
Special district governments
Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
State governments
Private institutions of higher education