North Dakota: Regional Workforce Impact Program

The Department of Commerce received an appropriation from the 68th North Dakota Legislative Assembly to provide support to organizations addressing workforce challenges and barriers to employment through the ND Regional Workforce Impact Program (RWIP).

Donor Name: North Dakota Department of Commerce

State: North Dakota

County: All Counties

Type of Grant: Grant

Deadline: 04/01/2024

Size of the Grant: More than $1 million

Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned

Details:

The goal of the Regional Workforce Impact Program is to empower locally led solutions to one of the state’s greatest challenges. Workforce needs vary by region throughout North Dakota, so a one size fits all approach is unrealistic and would not adequately address challenges in all parts of the state. By creating a regional funding mechanism to support workforce initiatives, local and regional partners have the opportunity to articulate their needs and the ability to access funding to address them. The Department of Commerce aims to increase participation in the workforce statewide by equipping communities with resources to invest in initiatives that are catered to the needs of their region.

Collaboration to develop initiatives that address the region’s most pressing workforce challenges and impact various geographies and/or populations throughout the region representing both rural and urban is encouraged; however, it is not required. Each project will be submitted on its own application. A single application on behalf of the region is no longer required. Applicants must be able to articulate the greatest impact possible to the region as a whole. Please note that regions are defined as the eight planning regions, although the impact of a project may extend beyond a region’s borders.

To ensure equitable access to these grant dollars, a portion of funding is reserved for each of the eight planning regions based on population as provided by the 2020 decennial US Census. Applicants are required to demonstrate 25% match for each project. Below is the breakout of maximum funding amount per region and the counties that are included in each region.

Region 1: $1,313,000
Region 2: $1,566,000
Region 3: $1,215,000
Region 4: $1,535,000
Region 5: $2,319,000
Region 6: $1,319,000
Region 7: $1,957,500
Region 8: $1,275,500

To qualify, proposals must fall under at least one of the following categories:

Talent attraction marketing and locally implemented strategies for business, industry, and communities that leverages existing statewide assets like Find the Good Life platform and pipeline to recruit employees nationwide and retain students and recent graduates. – cap of $250,000
Retention – cap of $250,000.00
Infrastructure investments that directly relate to the proposed workforce solution – cap of $500,000
Infrastructure investments that expand a childcare center – cap of $500,000
- The childcare must be a center and cannot be home-based or in a site that can be repurposed for housing.
Capital investments, capital purchases for new or renovated space to support the applicant’s proposed program must be able to show direct influence on the workforce solution- cap of $500,000.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible applicants include the following types of North Dakota-based organizations: