The Rural Innovation Stronger Economy (RISE) Grant Program offers grant assistance to create and augment high-wage jobs, accelerate the formation of new businesses, support industry clusters and maximize the use of local productive assets in eligible low-income rural areas.
The RISE project must serve a rural region small enough to allow close collaboration among partners. It also must include important elements of the region’s prioritized industry cluster (concentrations of related industries).
Only one application can be submitted per applicant, who is defined as a lead applicant as found in 7 CFR 4282.1112(b). If two applications are submitted by the same lead applicant, both applications will be deemed ineligible for funding. Interested applicants from within Duke should contact fundopps@duke.edu as early as possible.
Deadline: April 1, 2024
Eligible applicants are rural jobs accelerator partnerships with expertise in delivering economic and job training programs, consisting of the following:
- Non-profit entities
- State entities
- Tribal entities
- Institutions of higher education
- Public bodies
Grant amounts are awarded competitively with a minimum of $500,000 and a maximum grant amount of $2,000,000.