FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES TO EXPAND 

ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY ACROSS AMERICA

As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the Distressed Area 

Recompete Pilot Program (Recompete Pilot Program)—authorized by the CHIPS and 

Science Act—will invest $200 million toward interventions that create, and connect 

workers to, good jobs in geographically diverse and persistently distressed communities 

across the country. 

Applications for Phase 1 of the Recompete Pilot Program opened on June 29, 2023, 

and will close on October 5, 2023 at 11:59 pm ET. Please visit the Economic 

Development Administration (EDA) website for the full Notice of Funding Opportunity 

(NOFO), application portal, eligibility map, and supporting materials.

RECOMPETE PILOT PROGRAM FACT SHEET

U.S. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION

UNDERSTANDING THE PROGRAM

The Recompete Pilot Program will support economic revitalization in distressed 

communities across the country. Specifically, this program targets areas where 

prime-age (25-54 years) employment significantly trails the national average, with 

the goal to close this gap through flexible, bottom-up strategy development and 

implementation investments.

EDA will deploy funding through a two-phase competition (detailed below). Phase 1 

investments can be used for strategy development activities, while Phase 2 investments 

can support a wide range of implementation activities across workforce development, 

business and entrepreneur development, infrastructure, and additional planning, 

predevelopment, or technical assistance. 

LEARN MORE ATEDA.GOV

Application 

Deadline: 

October 5, 2023

Click here for 

more information

EQUITY AND ENGAGING UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES

Equity is EDA’s top investment priority and embedded in the design of the Recompete 

Pilot Program. Funding will be provided exclusively to distressed communities, and 

within these areas applicants should demonstrate how benefits from the program 

are shared equitably across all affected populations. Applicants will also be asked 

to demonstrate how they are engaging underserved communities in the upcoming 

application and planning process.1
RECOMPETE PILOT PROGRAM FACT SHEET 2

PROGRAM TIMELINE The Phase 1 NOFO has a 3-month 

application window with a 

deadline to apply by October 

5, 2023 at 11:59 pm ET. 

Announcement of Phase 1 

winners and the release of the 

Phase 2 NOFO is expected 

this Winter, where applicants 

with approved Recompete 

Plans will be invited to submit 

a Phase 2 application. 

EDA concluded a Request for 

Information (RFI) and Tribal 

Consultation in March 2023. 

Aggregated findings were 

published with the Phase 1 NOFO.

FUNDING LEVELS 

The Recompete Pilot Program 

will provide funding through 

a two-phase competition. 

Phase 1

In Phase 1, applicants can apply 

for (1) a Strategy Development 

Grant, (2) approval of a Recompete 

Plan, or (3) both. In Phase 1, EDA 

anticipates approximately $6–12 

million in Strategy Development 

grants, each between $250,000 

and $500,000.2 EDA also expects 

to approve at least 20 Recompete 

Plans.3

Phase 2

Only applicants with approved 

Recompete Plans from Phase 1 

will be invited to apply for 

Phase 2. In Phase 2, applicants 

can apply for larger awards for 

implementation. EDA expects 

to make approximately 4–8 

implementation investments with 

the remaining available funding, 

ranging from $20–50 million 

each. In each region selected for 

implementation investments, 

awardees will receive funding to 

implement approximately 3–8 

interrelated projects.

WHAT SHOULD APPLICANTS DO TO APPLY?

1. Explore the Mapping Tool to find out if your community is potentially eligible for this 

Program. If you are a region that the Map does not indicate is eligible, applicants may 

submit data showing eligibility that EDA will verify during application review.

2. Read the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) and visit the EDA Recompete Pilot 

Program website to access additional supporting materials .

3. Sign up for EDA’s communications to stay up to date on the latest Recompete news. 

If you have questions, please reach out to Recompete@eda.gov. 

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO APPLY?

As stated in the program’s authorizing legislation, applicants to the Recompete Pilot 

Program must meet two eligibility criteria. 

1. Eligible Recipient Type: Eligible applicants include: (i) a unit of local government; 

(ii) the District of Columbia; (iii) a territory of the United States; (iv) a Tribal government; 

(v) political subdivisions of a State or other entity, including a special-purpose 

entity engaged in economic development activities; (vi) a public entity or nonprofit 

organization, acting in cooperation with the officials of a political subdivision of a 

State or other entity described in (v); (vii) an economic development district; and 

(viii) a coalition of any of the above entities that serve or are contained within an 

eligible geographic area.

2. Eligible Area: Recompete Pilot Program investments must be located in one of two 

eligible area types, including meeting certain Prime-Age Employment Gap (PAEG) 

requirements. To support applicants in determining geographic eligibility, EDA, in 

partnership with Argonne National Laboratory, released the Recompete Eligibility 

Mapping Tool (Mapping Tool) in June 2023. Please click here to access the Mapping 

Tool, which includes a user-friendly map and instructional materials. 

 Both types of eligible areas are represented in the Mapping Tool. Please see EDA’s 

Recompete FAQs for more information on the PAEG.

Note that in this competition, EDA is targeting geographies where a high PAEG exists 

because meaningful employment is not available and/or barriers keep people out of the 

workforce, not places where demographic trends lead to high PAEG (e.g., high numbers 

of financially secure early retirees or people pursuing higher education). Please see the 

NOFO for application evaluation criteria reflecting this prioritization.

If you have questions about program eligibility or using the Mapping Tool please 

contact your local Economic Development Representative or reach out to the program 

at Recompete@eda.gov. 

The Mapping Tool includes the two types of eligible geographic areas, which are:

• Local Labor Markets (LLMs): a Metropolitan Statistical Area, a Micropolitan Statistical Area, a commuting zone, or 

Tribal lands in the United States and Puerto Rico. LLMs with a PAEG of at least 2.5% are eligible. For the purposes of this 

competition, all Tribal lands and Pacific Ocean Territories are considered eligible LLMs.

• Local Communities (LCs): an area served by a general-purpose unit of local government (e.g., county government, 

municipal government) that is located within, but does not fully cover, an ineligible LLM (as defined above) and either:

 — The entire area served by the unit of local government on average has a PAEG of at least 5% and a median annual 

household income of no more than $75,000; or

 — A subset of the area served by the unit of local government has five or more contiguous Census tracts that each 

individually have a PAEG of at least 5% and median annual household income of no more than $75,000. In this 

instance, the applicant’s service area must be contained within the identified Census tracts.

(1) Please see EDA’s website for how Equity is defined as an investment priority, and the NOFO for more information 

on how applicants will be evaluated for equity.

(2) Strategy development grants may go up to $750,000 only in rare circumstances.

(3) Please see the NOFO for more information on what should be included in a Recompete Plan.