Today, Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) announced that the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) has awarded federal grant funds to 11 development projects throughout New Hampshire’s Second Congressional District.  These grants, which total more than $1.4 million, will help to spur economic and community development, and to address some of the most pressing challenges, including opioid mis-use and veteran homelessness, facing the North Country and other rural regions around the Granite State.  The grants will support projects Kuster has long championed, including a housing project for homeless veterans in Plymouth; the newly opened Lebanon campus of River Valley Community College, and the expansion of Friendship House, a substance abuse recovery center in Bethlehem, among others.

“I applaud the Northern Border Regional Commission for awarding several Economic and Infrastructure Development Investment awards to New Hampshire organizations and municipalities,”  Kuster said.  “Under the leadership of Federal Co-Chair Mark Scarano, the NBRC has provided critical funding for economic development projects in the Northeast that have created jobs right here in the Granite State.  From helping create over 50 units of affordable, permanent housing for our veterans in Plymouth, to funding the expansion of a recovery center in Bethlehem that will service individuals affected by substance mis-use, the NBRC’s announcement of over $1.4 million to New Hampshire will give our rural communities and organizations the resources they need to succeed.”   

In total, NBRC awarded more than $7.4 million in grants to projects throughout the commission’s service areas in New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, and New York.

Among the projects receiving NBRC funds:

• The N.H. Department of Resources & Economic Development will receive a $42,000 grant to help create a five-year economic development strategy for the State of New Hampshire.
• The Town of Northumberland will receive $200,000 to help provide water and sewer infrastructure to aid the redevelopment of the former Groveton mill site.
• The Town of Littleton will receive $110,000 to help construct a new multi-modal trail to connect the existing regional system within the River District Revitalization project.
• The Grafton Regional Development Corporation will receive $50,000 for improvements to the Enterprise Center in Plymouth.
• The Town of Ashland will receive $250,000 to fund a new sewage receiving station.
• River Valley Community College will receive $50,000 to complete renovations of its new Lebanon Academic Center.
• The City of Berlin will receive $250,000 to help develop a new multi-use trail and river walk in the downtown area.
• The University of New Hampshire will receive $145,000 to continue the N.H. Broadband Mapping & Planning Program.
• Soldier On will receive $250,000 to help develop 52 units of affordable, permanent housing for veterans in Plymouth.
• Tri-County CAP will receive $60,500 to help fund needed expansions to the Friendship House, a residential program for those affected by substance mis-use in Bethlehem.
• Friends of Wentworth Park will receive $42,500 to help fund the relocation and completion of a newly restored wooden covered bridge in Wentworth.

Created by the 2008 Farm Bill, the Northern Border Regional Commission is a Federal-State partnership that is comprised of a Federal Co-Chair and the Governors of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York.  The Commission was established to organize federal funding towards specific State economic and community development projects in rural parts of the Northeast.  The investments made by the NBRC have the direct impact of creating jobs, supporting community-oriented projects and attracting private investments that will help organizations and municipalities meet their funding objectives. 

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