UND Center for Innovation receives nearly $300,000 in CARES Act funding to help with pandemic recovery
The UND Center for Innovation has received $299,921 in CARES Act funding to boost UND’s ability to help communities and businesses respond to and recover from the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The funding was awarded by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) in the form of a recovery assistance grant to support regional economic development strategies.
“We are pleased to utilize this funding to boost our capacity in support of regional economic development strategies in response to COVID-19,” said Amy Whitney, director of the UND Center for Innovation. “Our goal is to use these funds to accelerate the transition of our technical assistance and innovation resources into online, virtual formats so they are more accessible. In addition, this funding will allow us to provide additional commercialization resources to select faculty working on projects that respond to the impact of COVID-19 in our region.
“This investment comes at a crucial time to help North Dakota’s and our nation’s economy come roaring back and provide hard-working Americans with new opportunities,” said Dana Gartzke for the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development. “We are pleased to make this investment in the UND Center for Innovation, Center for Autonomous Systems to transition and accelerate technical assistance to help businesses, entrepreneurs, UND faculty and community partners handle challenges, solve problems, and address the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic across all industry sectors in North Dakota.”
UND, a current EDA University Center grantee, is one of the more than 850 grant recipients invited to apply for supplemental funding under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
The CARES Act provides EDA with $1.5 billion for economic development assistance programs to help communities prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance provides a wide-range of financial assistance to eligible communities and regions as they respond to and recover from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. For complete information, please visit the EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance page.
About the U.S. Economic Development Administration
The mission of the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is to lead the federal economic development agenda by promoting competitiveness and preparing the nation’s regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy. An agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, EDA makes investments in economically distressed communities in order to create jobs for U.S. workers, promote American innovation, and accelerate long-term sustainable economic growth.
