The long-awaited Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill is ready to fund many of your long-awaited projects. The bill makes over a trillion dollars available to cities and towns by expanding existing programs and creating new streams of infrastructure revenue to assist when the budget is tight. The funding allocated in this bill covers a wide breadth of long-term infrastructure projects from the replacement of lead pipes to the purchase of electric vehicles. With such a large amount of funds accessible, the time to apply for federal funding for any and all infrastructure projects is now.

It can be difficult to know how to not only find the best program to supplement your infrastructure projects, but to also apply in a way that maximizes your chances of receiving the funding you need. Grant applications, no matter the type of grant, can be challenging to navigate alone. The research necessary for completing project proposals, and the time limitations on application submissions may deter some from even trying to access these available funds. Municipalities that lack the staffing resources to begin an application may look to hire someone to apply for these infrastructure grants. However, even trying to hire someone to begin the proposal and application can eat away at precious time to apply for competitive grants.

 

With such expansive funding opportunities available, experience is essential to achieve the federal assistance necessary to see all your long-term infrastructure projects to an end. 

The Infrastructure Bill’s immensity and depth can make it challenging to know where to look for the funds most relevant to your infrastructure project. Luckily, a recently released Fact Sheet has highlighted the bill’s opportunities for your community, giving insight into what’s available and what to look for.

The Fact Sheet highlights 25 competitive infrastructure funding opportunities that are either already accepting applications or will be opening submissions soon. The highlighted programs emphasize a convergence of goals, tackling multiple issues within a single project. At the moment, the Fact Sheet is a precursor to a Guidebook that will contain more comprehensive details about the opportunities this bill affords. However, it is clear from the Fact Sheet which sectors of infrastructure can look to these grants for supplemental funding.

The Fact Sheet is broken up into 3 sections, including:

  • Transportation

  • Climate, Energy, & Environment

  • Broadband, Cyber, and Other Programs

It should be noted that in many of the grants under each of these subsections, there is a high level of topic crossover, as many grants and programs provide funding for large projects that cannot be contained in a single classification.

Within these sections, the Fact Sheet offers some unique funding opportunities for matters that concern local government. For example, the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant is a new opportunity to provide funding directly to and exclusively for local governments to improve street quality with regards to “vision zero” plans, with a particular emphasis on the safety of cyclists and pedestrians.

Another unique opportunity that is specified for the local level is The State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program. This new billion-dollar program makes federal funds available to address cybersecurity risks and threats to information systems that state, local, or tribal governments own or operate. 

This bill is a once in a lifetime opportunity for your community to fund the large long-term projects that have been waiting for the funding to bring them to light. The expertise of Capital Strategic Solutions (CSS) can help you use the infrastructure bill to its fullest extent.

CSS employs a team with specialized experience in every step of the grant application process, and the subsequent project management. CSS has the experience in municipal finance and financial management to help your agency compete for grants.

With extensive experience working with federal grants like ARPA, CARES, and FEMA, CSS prides itself on maximizing the success of your infrastructure projects and minimizing the risks to our clients. Beyond grant writing, CSS provides guidance on abiding by state and federal regulations, compliance reporting throughout project processes, and even staff training. We work rigorously to help our clients achieve their project and funding goals while untangling and resolving any and all expected and unexpected issues in a cost-effective way.

Contact us at info@captial-strategic-solutions.com or call 508-690-0046. Let’s schedule a meeting to discuss how our experience can assist your organization!

 
Written by: by Meredith Roberts, CSSProject Specialist