This bill adds a new pilot program to the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 called the Capacity Building for Business Districts Pilot Program. The program allows the Secretary of Commerce (through the Economic Development Administration) to make competitive grants to qualified national or multi‑area nonprofit or public organizations (called "specified recipients"). Those specified recipients would provide technical assistance, training, operating support, and pass‑through grants to local business district organizations in low‑income, rural, minority, and Native communities. The bill requires multiple awards, broad geographic distribution, and gives priority to applicants that serve distressed areas (including rural communities and Indian Tribes) and that can serve multiple States or geographies. Initial grants must run for a period the Secretary finds appropriate but not less than two years. Specified recipients must report at least annually on subrecipients served, use of funds, geographic areas served, businesses assisted, and jobs created or retained. The Secretary may not run the pilot through a regional office.
No publicly available information on total funding amounts, appropriations, or estimated costs is included in the bill text or provided metadata. The bill does specify that grants may be awarded and that initial grant terms must be at least two years, but it does not set dollar amounts.
The bill states that business districts are important to community vitality, local entrepreneurship, and job growth. It says local business district organizations need technical assistance and flexible operating capital and that intermediary organizations exist which can receive and responsibly deploy funding to support those local groups. The pilot is framed as a way to strengthen small businesses, attract investment, and help revitalize commercial corridors, especially in underserved and distressed areas.
No publicly available information.