Discussion:
At its September 7, 2021 meeting, City Council adopted Resolution R2021-122, approving the grant application to the EDA American Rescue Plan Act Economic Adjustment Assistance Grant. The EDA announced available federal funding in the amount of $3 billion dollars. The EDA’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) is designed to provide a wide-range of financial assistance to communities and regions as they respond to and recover from the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, including long-term recovery and resilience to future economic disasters.
In resolution R2021-122, the City of Shakopee requested $7 million in federal funding for the Regional Innovation Hub project. Upon consultation with the city's federal EDA representative and due to the overwhelming number of applications, a more realistic funding ask is $5 million. The city will cover the remaining costs of the project. The city continues to be in discussion with various community sponsors to secure additional funding, as well as applying to various state funding resources to offset the city's cost obligation,