The Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED) is accepting applications for the new Rural Workforce Housing Land Development Program. The Rural Workforce Housing Land Development Program will provide awards to eligible municipalities for projects that result in the preparation of land for workforce housing pursuant to the Nebraska Rural Workforce Housing Investment Act. Eligible municipalities shall use these funds for specific eligible activities including to acquire, improve, demolish and/or secure vacant or abandoned properties for future workforce housing development.
On April 13, 2022, Governor Ricketts signed LB1014. Section 42(2) of the bill appropriated a total of $10,000,000 to the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, funded with federal Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF) through the American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA). The program is an eligible use of the funding program which was designed to provide state governments with the resources needed to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic effects and to build a stronger economy during recovery.
The Rural Workforce Housing Land Development Program is open to eligible municipalities, working in partnership with a Nebraska Rural Workforce Housing Fund (RWHF) awardee from the 2017 or 2020 program, or an eligible 2022 RWHF applicant organization. “Eligible municipalities” means incorporated municipalities located within the 41 rural counties listed below. These counties have been determined by DED to be disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
| Arthur County | Franklin County | Morrill County |
| Boone County | Frontier County | Nemaha County |
| Box Butte County | Gage County | Pawnee County |
| Boyd County | Garden County | Phelps County |
| Brown County | Greeley County | Polk County |
| Butler County | Harlan County | Red Willow County |
| Cherry County | Holt County | Richardson County |
| Cheyenne County | Hooker County | Scotts Bluff County |
| Custer County | Howard County | Sherman County |
| Dakota County | Jefferson County | Valley County |
| Dawes County | Kimball County | Wayne County |
| Deuel County | Lincoln County | Webster County |
| Dixon County | Logan County | Wheeler County |
| Dundy County | Merrick County |
Additionally, municipalities located within the counties of Adams, Buffalo, Dodge, Madison and Thurston are eligible to apply for projects that are located only within the federally designated Qualified Census Tracts (QCTs). These QCTs include:
| County | QCT 1 | QCT 2 |
| Adams | 31001966100 | N/A |
| Buffalo | 31019969500 | 31019969600 |
| Dodge | 31053964400 | N/A |
| Madison | 31119960700 | N/A |
| Thurston | 31173940100 | 31173940200 |
Letters of Intent are required and due December 15, 2022, by 5:00 p.m. CST. Letters of Intent must be emailed to the Department at: ded.rwhflanddevelopment@nebraska.gov.
Full applications must be submitted electronically through DED’s Grant Management System AmpliFund at any time after the application live date. Full applications are due January 19, 2023, by 5:00 p.m. CST. The application can be found at: https://ne.amplifund.com/Public/Opportunities/Details/66f270b8-63ef-4bde-96fd-e4cb4408c6bf.
Program requirements and more information about the Rural Workforce Housing Land Development Program can be found at: https://opportunity.nebraska.gov/programs/recovery/rural-workforce-housing-land-development-program/.
For additional information on the Rural Workforce Housing Land Development Program, contact ded.rwhflanddevelopment@nebraska.gov.