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The U.S. Economic Development Administration is announcing a $30 million cooperative agreement with the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) and its partners to create an Economic Recovery Corps (ERC) program. This CARES Act Recovery Assistance cooperative agreement with IEDC and its partners will create a national economic recovery program designed to hire and embed Fellows in a variety of economic development organizations, economic development districts, entrepreneurial support organizations, counties and cities and provide them with expanded capacity to design and implement sustainable and inclusive growth strategies.

This EDA funded program will recruit and place at least 65 Fellows in economic development organizations in underserved communities throughout the nation. As communities and organizations face depleted institutional resources, many are unable to develop and grow their staff to the level needed to fully execute their economic development plans and goals, particularly those established as part of a regional economic development planning process. The Economic Recovery Corps program will address the resource gap between planning and implementation by embedding Fellows into organizations to develop and execute regional economic development strategies in the communities they serve.

Fellows — who will be early- to mid-career economic development practitioners — will provide technical assistance, enabling underserved communities to better access funding and participate in economic development initiatives through preparation, training, and implementation support. They will also have access to a wealth of resources from the partner organizations, including ongoing professional development opportunities and the ability to connect and learn from one another across the three-year fellowship.