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Rural Health Information Hub

Massachusetts Rural Development Fund

This funding record is inactive. Please see the program website or contact the program sponsor to determine if this program is currently accepting applications or will open again in the future.

Sponsor
Massachusetts Executive Office of Economic Development
Deadlines
Jun 5, 2024
Contact

Mallory Sullivan
857.408.0793
mallory.sullivan@mass.gov

Purpose

The Rural Development Fund provides grants for economic and community development activities in rural communities and small towns in Massachusetts.

Eligible projects include, but are not limited to:

  • Planning and zoning:
    • Create a housing production plan to understand housing needs and identify strategies to reduce gaps in existing housing
    • Create a multi-family zoning district near a transit station
    • Conduct a zoning review to identify and remove language that hinders economic growth
    • Create a plan to update zoning rules to unlock potential housing production and economic development growth
  • Site preparation:
    • Create a site master plan, including predevelopment activities, on an underutilized commercial property with the intent to create mixed use that may include affordable housing
    • Conduct design, engineering, and/or permitting activities to address changes to existing water, sewer, and storm water in a potential development site
    • Demolish a blighted building that cannot be recovered to prepare a portion of a parcel or an entire parcel for mixed-use redevelopment that may include affordable housing
  • Buildings:
    • Conduct design, engineering, and/or permitting activities to address ADA accessibility requirements for public buildings and resources
    • Rehabilitate housing to bring an underutilized property back onto the market
    • Provide further subsidies to an affordable housing project to directly create affordable housing units or increase the number of affordable units in a new housing project
  • Infrastructure:
    • Conduct design, engineering, permitting, and construction for road improvements, including projects that address public safety concerns
    • Conduct design, engineering, and/or permitting activities to address improvements to existing water, sewer, and storm water infrastructure
    • Conduct design, engineering, and/or permitting activities to address construction of a new water line connection to an adjacent town or making plans to consolidate water districts for an area served only by wells
    • Conduct design, engineering, permitting, and construction of alternative transportation infrastructure to address ADA accessibility requirements for pedestrians and cyclists between residential and/or commercial areas
Eligibility

Eligible applicants are public entities from any Massachusetts town that meets the definition of a rural community (having less than 500 persons per square mile) and/or a small town (having a total population of 7,000 or less persons).

Public entities include:

  • Municipal governments
  • Public housing authorities
  • Redevelopment authorities
  • Water/sewer districts
  • Economic development industrial corporations
  • Public bodies created by legislative act
  • Regional planning agencies
Geographic coverage
Massachusetts
Amount of funding

Award range: $50,000 - $500,000
Project period: Projects must be completed by June 30, 2026.

Application process

A link to the application instructions is available on the program website.

Submit applications online through the Massachusetts Community One Stop for Growth portal.

Tagged as
Community and economic development · Housing and homelessness · Infrastructure · Needs assessment methods and resources · Planning and strategy methods and resources · Public health · Transportation · Massachusetts



For complete information about funding programs, including your application status, please contact funders directly. Summaries are provided for your convenience only. RHIhub does not take part in application processes or monitor application status.