Local Development Districts

Role of Regional Organizations in NBRC Grant Adminstration

What is an LDD?
The NBRC Federal-State partnership is aided by a group of regional organizations called Local Development Districts (LDDs) that assist the NBRC in its outreach activities and administer NBRC investments for grantees. LDDs are either an already existing federally designated Economic Development District, as certiﬁed by the US Economic Development Administration, or an organization similar in nature to a regional planning commission.

Improving LDD Relationships, Phase 1 (Spring 2023)
NBRC has initiated the process to jumpstart an LDD Partnership Program (estimated start FY24), beginning with phase 1, improving relationships with LDDs. The purpose of this phase is to signal to the LDDs that we are attempting to provide better/more resources to aid them in their grant administration of NBRC grants. NBRC will be implementing a partnership program that will hold both NBRC and the LDDs accountable to a higher standard of service to applicants to our programs, with special attention to our historically underserved communities within our service area.

In Phase 1, NBRC contacted all LDDs currently listed on our website to inquire about their interest and capacity to continue to serve as an LDD. The objective is to get a real-time sense of which LDDs are interested in engaging in this partnership and remove LDDs from the list who are not currently interested, perhaps due to capacity issues. NBRC intends to repeat this process on an annual basis to ensure the LDD list on our website is an accurate resource for our grantees.

** PLEASE NOTE: The opt in process applies to providing grant administration help to any potential new grantees for that year’s grant awards. If you are currently under contract with projects awarded in past years, you are not opting out of those contracts. Opting out is signaling to NBRC that you do not have the capacity to take on any NEW grantees. LDDs who opt out in one year could opt back in if they so choose. They would simply reach out to NBRC.

An LDD who is opting in to being an entity eligible to provide grant administration assistance for Program Year 2023, attendance at NBRC LDD training sessions is mandatory. Attendance at LDD trainings are an NBRC eligible expense, which can be charged to an existing LDD contract you may have with a current grantee. For entities located in States where you have a technical assistance line to charge to, under the State’s Capacity Grant Program, your time can be charged there. If you have
both an existing LDD contract and the availability to be reimbursed for technical assistance through the State, NBRC asks that you charge the time to the contract through the State. If you are unsure where to charge your time, please reach out to NBRC’s Program Director, Andrea Smith via asmith@nbrc.gov for guidance.

How do I find my LDD?
Please click here for the current list of LDDs. Please make sure to reference the state tabs on the bottom of the sheet.

What is the Role of an LDD?
LDDs are knowledgeable about other Federal and State programs that help fund economic and community development projects. They are aware of local concerns as most engage in regional economic development planning of varying degrees. LDDs provide feedback to the Commission on its current programs as well as assist in identifying future areas of focus for the Commission.

Each Catalyst Program (SEID & IIJA) award is required to utilize an LDD for grant administration assistance unless they are an agency of State government, an LDD, or have requested and received LDD waiver approval from NBRC prior to the submission of the Catalyst Program application.

LDDs are compensated for their administrative work, through a reimbursement process with the grantee, based on the formula of 2% of the NBRC award. LDD grant administration costs are an eligible NBRC cost for an amount not to exceed the formula. If grant administration assistance beyond the total available under the formula, those must be paid for with matching funds.

If an entity is required to utilize an LDD, grant administration costs must be reflected as a line item within the project budget submitted in support of a Catalyst Program application for funding. Please see the Catalyst Program Manual for additional guidance on where this cost should be reflected in the project budget (SF424cbw).

The LDD contract executed with the grantee should specify the type of scope of services/grant administration activity that will be provided. See the list below for details on the types of LDD assistance. See the Role of the LDD for additional details on the types of LDD assistance. Should the project be awarded Catalyst Program funding, grantees are required to provide a copy of the executed LDD contract as part of the documentation necessary to receive a Notice to Proceed.

Quarterly Reporting: Ensure that the grantee ﬁles quarterly reports on time and enough information to provide a meaningful outline of where the project is in the process.
Reimbursement Requests: Provide guidance to grantees on ﬁling reimbursement requests and ensure that reimbursement requests are accurate, within approved budget and contain all the necessary documentation to provide evidence of match and reimbursements that are expected to be paid by NBRC.
Final Reporting: Ensure that the grantee has ﬁled their ﬁnal report and ﬁnancial report in a timely manner after the project is complete.
General Assistance: Be available to provide guidance to the grantee with other issues such as what their responsibilities are regarding procurement of goods and services and contractors. Have a general knowledge base about federal grant programs, speciﬁcally NBRC.

PLEASE NOTE: It is not expected that the LDD will conduct bid processes and/or assess bid documents for completion, interviewing potential consultants or other procurement processes. The 2% grant administration allowance also does not cover assisting a grantee with the completion of NEPA. While some of our LDD partners have this capacity and experience, if a grantee wishes to engage the LDD in these processes, those are eligible NBRC costs, which must be reflected in the project budget (SF424cbw), and the grantee may enter a separate Grant Management contract with the LDD for those services. See Role of the LDD for more information.

A listing of Local Development Districts around the Country can be found at the websites of our sister Commissions: the Delta Regional Authority and the Appalachian Regional Commission.