Economic Development Administration Award: Predevelopment Accelerator

The Center was initially launched with funding from the U.S EDA. These Community of Practice calls and following resources were prepared by the Milken Institute using federal funders under award ED21HDQ3030136 from the Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Economic Development Administration or the U.S. Department of Commerce.

This report provides an overview of topics and activities related to community project development. The Milken Institute and the Rural Community Assistance Partnership developed this report. A corresponding technology platform, the Community Infrastructure Center, provides further guidance to project advancement and resources to navigate critical predevelopment activities.  

Many communities begin the project development phase following an intensive period of economic or community development. During this phase, communities may evaluate their needs from equity to job growth to underlying infrastructure needs. Coming out of this phase, communities may have a project idea, but may struggle to navigate the funding, technical assistance, and technology landscape to identify next steps and opportunities to advance a project. This document and accompanying data, tools, and resources on the Community Infrastructure Center, is designed to equip a community with grant matches, a project readiness assessment, data, templates, and resources corresponding to major predevelopment activities, and a community platform to find and connect with other communities deploying their projects.