Grant Details

Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC): Forest Economy Program (FEP) (Select Areas) - FY 2025

Agency:	US Other
Office:	Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC)
Multipart Grant:	No

Next Due:	03/07/2025 (Multiple)
Solicitation Date:	Unknown

Match Required:	Yes
Match Type:	Cash/In-Kind
Actual Funds:	Unspecified
Award Range:	$1,000,000 (Max)

Summary:

The purpose of this program is to support the forest-based economy, and to assist in the industry’s evolution to include new technologies and viable business models across the four-state funding agency region of Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont. Funding will support projects in the forest economy that involve one or more of the following priorities:

Community development projects: support the diversified use of forests within the funding agency’s service area for economic activity, as well as for other economic activity that utilizes northern border forests sustainably and demonstrates planning for climate resiliency; eligible activities include:
- Utilization of wood-based heating technologies and/or mass timber products in public use projects
- Collaborative efforts to support communities negatively impacted by the decline in the forest-based economy to attract new wood-utilizing enterprises
Workforce [re]training and development projects: building the skills and recruiting and retaining the workforce needed for forest businesses; eligible activities include:
- Development and marketing of targeted workforce programs to support identified employers’ needs for a skilled workforce, such as new technology, safety, or apprenticeship
- Training and recruitment programs that prepare participants for careers in logging, forestry, and related businesses
Business planning and technical assistance projects: enhancing the viability and sustainability of new and existing forest businesses; eligible activities include:
- Technical assistance
- Training in business skills
- Access to financing to local forest industry businesses
Marketing/communication and education work: must be paired with one of the above priorities; eligible activities include:
- Marketing and communications that promote the benefits of northern border forests
- Marketing to promote the environmental and climate benefits of forest management and forest products in ways that strengthen markets for wood products
- Forest resource planning and industry supply chain analysis projects
- Carbon storage, carbon footprint, and/or life cycle analysis projects for wood products
Public infrastructure projects: projects that directly support the forest industry and/or demonstrate the use of wood products in public infrastructure; eligible activities include:
- Energy sourcing or supply upgrades that reduce costs for industry and/or create new markets for residuals

Infrastructure projects may include transportation, water and wastewater, telecommunications, and energy.

Preference will be given to applied research and demonstration projects that demonstrate a strong connection to industry, as well as projects that demonstrate both readiness and direct impacts on the region's forest economy and communities. In addition, connection with state and regional investment priorities will strengthen the application.

FY 2025 investment priorities include:

Investing in the development and commercialization of technologies that create and grow needed markets for low-grade forest harvest residuals
Investing in workforce recruitment, development, and training to increase job placement across the forest product continuum
Helping to sustain and grow existing forest industry businesses and operations, such as through technical assistance
Aiding in the revitalization of rural communities through the diversified use of northern border forests for economic activity
Leveraging existing, or, in some cases, new, partnerships to impact multiple counties, states and/or the entire funding agency region, and/or have the potential to do so

Eligibility is limited to projects located within the funding agency's service area, which includes select counties of the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and New York, as well as all counties in the state of Vermont. Refer to the Eligibility section for details.

This program is related to the funding agency's Catalyst Program and Timber for Transit Program, known in eCivis Grants Network as US17100 and US17221, respectively.

Last Updated: February 20, 2025

Eligibility Notes:

Eligible applicants are:

State governments of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York
Local governments, including villages, towns, cities, or counties
Secondary and career technical centers
Other political subdivisions of states, such as regional planning commissions or authorities of the state
501(c) and 501(a) nonprofit entities
Federally recognized Indian tribes, which for the purposes of this program are defined as any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community, including any Alaska Native village or regional or village corporation as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians
Institutions of higher education

Applicants may apply as a partnership.

Projects must be located within the following counties that comprise the funding agency's service area:

Maine: Androscoggin, Aroostook, Franklin, Hancock, Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Oxford, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Somerset, Waldo, and Washington counties
New Hampshire: Belknap, Carroll, Cheshire, Coös, Grafton, Merrimack, and Sullivan counties
New York: Cayuga, Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Genesee, Greene, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Livingston, Madison, Montgomery, Niagara, Oneida, Orleans, Oswego, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Schenectady, Seneca, Sullivan, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wyoming, and Yates counties
Vermont: all counties within the state

Projects may cover multiple states or multiple counties.

Nonprofit organizations must be able to demonstrate federal award experience related to community and economic development. Institutions of higher education must have existing industry partnerships.

If an applicant has received a prior funding agency award, the entity is only eligible to receive additional funding agency investment if they have submitted reimbursement requests totaling 75 percent or more of the project, and demonstrated that 75 percent of the cost share has been expended by the applicable pre-application due date. If this requirement has not been met, such entities must apply for an expenditure waiver request that will be submitted with the pre-application.

For attainment counties, which are neither distressed nor transitional, the funding agency is not allowed to fund projects within an attainment county unless the project is within an isolated area of distress, or has been provided a significant benefit waiver. Refer to pages 5-7 of the ProgramGuide file and the DistressCriteria file for detailed information regarding the annual distress criteria.

Applicants may apply for multiple awards; however, entities are unlikely to be awarded twice in one year. In addition, the funding agency does not recommend that applicants apply through multiple programs it offers in a given year.

The following entities are ineligible:

For-profit entities
Limited liability companies (LLCs)
Non-501(c) entities
Entities that would normally be deemed eligible, but, due to prior federal or state funding history, have been identified as ineligible for future investments

Previous award recipients include:

Vermont Youth Conservation Corps (VT)
Maine TREE Foundation (ME)
University of Maine (ME)
Paul Smith’s College (NY)
Our Katahdin (ME)

Refer to the Award file for additional information regarding previous award recipients.

Eligible Applicants:

Local Government
Academic Institutions
Consortia
Native American Tribe
Non Profits
State Government

Application Notes:

For the spring funding round, mandatory pre-applications must be received by 5:00 p.m. ET on March 7, 2025.

The due date for mandatory pre-applications for the fall funding round is unclear. The program officer has been contacted, and eCivis Grants Network will be updated if additional information becomes available.

Prior to submitting a pre-application, applicants are encouraged to contact Marina Caceres (Bowie) and the appropriate state program manager using the information provided in the Contact section. Applicants in Maine, New York, and Vermont are also encouraged to complete a project interest form before meeting with their state program manager. Applicants in New Hampshire are encouraged to sign up for the technical assistance program that is available in New Hampshire counties and communities, as detailed online at nbrc-nh.com.

Pre-applications must be submitted online at nbrcgrants.my.site.com. Hard-copy and emailed submissions will not be accepted.

Pre-applications must include:

Overview tab
Locations tab
Budget tab:
- Budget periods table
- Budget narrative
- Funding sources table
Attachments (as applicable):
- 75 percent expenditure waiver
- Significant benefit waiver

The following are required in order to submit an application:

Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number
SAM (System for Award Management) registration

Applicants may obtain a UEI number and verify or renew SAM registration status at www.ecivis.com/sam.

Pre-recorded overview sessions as well as a recording of an information session held for this program can be accessed online at www.nbrc.gov.

Pre-applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

Eligibility, including eligible project locations, eligible applicant and co-applicant criteria, and waiver completion
Alignment with program priorities
Costs and expected benefits associated with the requested investment, and benefits provided to the broader community and region

Applicants meeting with their state program manager to discuss projects are encouraged to complete a project interest form before meeting with their state program manager, to maximize the opportunity for feedback and funding program suggestions during project development meetings. The project interest form is attached as the InterestForm file.

Applicants submitting successful pre-applications will be invited to submit full applications. For the spring funding round, applications must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. ET on April 18, 2025.

The due date for invited applications for the fall funding round is unclear. The program officer has been contacted, and eCivis Grants Network will be updated if additional information becomes available.

Refer to the NOFA, ProgramGuide, InterestForm, FAQ, and Overview files for additional application information.

Match Required:	Yes
Match Type:	Cash/In-Kind
Actual Funds:	Unspecified

Award Range:	$1,000,000 (Max)

Match Notes:

Applicants must provide a cash and/or in-kind match that will vary according to project location, as follows:

Distressed counties: at least 20 percent match for counties with high rates of poverty, unemployment, or outmigration that are the most severely and persistently economically distressed and underdeveloped
Transitional counties: at least 50 percent match for counties that have recently suffered high rates of poverty, unemployment, or outmigration, or are economically distressed and underdeveloped

The match for multicounty projects will be the average of the counties that make up the project.

Match and cost share identified in an application must be committed within one year of award.

Cost sharing or matching requirements may be met by other federal awards when authorized by those other agencies, but only up to 80 percent of the total project cost. Refer to pages 13-16 of the ProgramGuide file for additional cost sharing and matching information.

Expenses incurred prior to the issuance of a notice to proceed may not count toward the match.

Funding Notes:

An unspecified amount of funding is available to support awards of up to $1 million through this program.

The funding agency will allocate at least 50 percent of its total appropriations to projects in counties designated as distressed.

For the spring funding round, award notifications will be provided on June 12, 2025. For the fall funding round, award notifications will be provided on December 19, 2025.

The project period will span three years.

Local development districts (LDDs) are compensated for their award administration services through a reimbursement process with the award recipient, as detailed on page 24 of the ProgramGuide file.

Funds may be used to match other federally funded projects, if allowable by both federal agencies, only when the total award funds from the funding agency and other federal funders does not exceed 80 percent of the total project budget.

Projects that simply include components of outdoor recreation in forested areas will not be competitive. In addition, standalone design/planning projects are likely not competitive.

In general, funding will not be awarded to projects located within a designated attainment county, except in the three circumstances detailed on page 6 of the ProgramGuide file.

Funds may not be used for food and beverages except when purchased for the express purpose of a conference or forum held in support of the project.

Funds may not be used for:

Basic research projects
Pass-through funding
Assisting any relocation from one area of the region to another
Supplanting existing federal programs
Projects that promote unfair competition between businesses with the same immediate service area
Fee or profit to the recipient or subrecipient
Application preparation
Meals and lodging
Alcohol
Entertainment

Refer to page 9 of the ProgramGuide file for additional ineligible costs.

For the fall 2024 funding round, two awards of $993,642 and $998,926 were provided through this program. For the spring 2024 funding round, one award of $1 million was provided. For the fall 2023 funding round, six awards ranging from $185,049 to $1 million were provided. Refer to the Award file for details.

Contacts:

Primary Contact:

Marina Caceres
FEP Manager
(603) 724-5802
mcaceres@nbrc.gov

Maine Contact:

Charlotte Mace
(207) 624-7448
charlotte.mace@maine.gov

New Hampshire Contact:

Ian Davis
(603) 271-0252
(603) 419-9709
Ian.M.Davis@livefree.nh.gov

New York Contact:

Kyle Wilber
(518) 473-3355
(518) 473-3694
kyle.wilber@dos.ny.gov

Vermont Contact:

Kristie Farnham
(802) 392-5268
kristie.farnham@vermont.gov

Agency Address
Northern Border Regional Commission
James Cleveland Federal Building, Suite 1501
53 Pleasant Street
Concord, NH 03301

Contact Notes:

Questions should be directed to the appropriate program contact.

Pre-applications must be submitted online at nbrcgrants.my.site.com.

The agency address provided is for reference purposes only.

Files:

NOFA File: US17219_NOFA_FY2025.pdf (258.2 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US17219_ProgramGuide_FY2025.pdf (1.1 Mb)
Award File: US17219_Award_FY2025.pdf (151.7 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US17219_DistressCriteria_FY2025.pdf (3.0 Mb)
Other Pre-Award File: US17219_FAQ_FY2025.pdf (226.4 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US17219_InterestForm_FY2025.pdf (160.4 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US17219_Overview_FY2025.pdf (243.8 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US17219_InformationSessionPresentation_FY2025.pdf (1.9 Mb)

File Notes:

The NOFA file contains the full solicitation for this program. The ProgramGuide file contains detailed program guidance. The DistressCriteria file contains information regarding distress criteria for this program. The FAQ file contains a list of answers to frequently asked questions regarding this program. The InterestForm file contains the optional project interest form for submission. The Overview file contains general program information. The InformationSessionPresentation file contains slides from an information session held for this program. The Award file contains information on previous award recipients. Additional program resources can be found online at www.nbrc.gov/content/resources.

February 20, 2025
A recording of an information session for this program has been released, and a link to the presentation is available in the Application section. Slides from an information session held for this program have also been released and attached as the InformationSessionPresentation file. All relevant sections have been updated accordingly.

February 12, 2025
Full solicitation information for this program has been released and attached as the NOFA file. All sections have been updated accordingly.

February 5, 2025
An announcement concerning the postponement of previously scheduled information sessions for this program has been released and attached as the WebinarPostponement file. The Application section has been updated accordingly.

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