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Delta Regional Authority (DRA) has announced funding availability for the Community Infrastructure Fund (CIF), which supports economic and community development needs throughout the Mississippi River Delta and Alabama Black Belt regions. 

Approximately $30 million is available to address basic public infrastructure and transportation infrastructure, as well as flood-control issues for communities within DRA’s eight-state service area, which encompasses 252 counties and parishes in parts of Alabama including Marengo, Dallas and Butler counties as well as parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee.

Funding for this program was made available, in part, by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by President Joe Biden – a key part of his Investing in America agenda to grow local economies from the middle out and bottom up and to create more resilient and healthier communities across the country. 

“The Community Infrastructure Fund is one of DRA’s most unique tools that allows us to expand and invest in the resiliency of the region’s public infrastructure,” said DRA federal co-chairman Corey Wiggins. “These investments will not only improve access to infrastructure but will also help improve residents’ quality of life and increase economic opportunities in some of the impoverished areas of the country.” 

The DRA was established in 2000 as a formal framework for joint federal-state collaboration to promote and encourage the economic development of the lower Mississippi River and Alabama Black Belt regions. To fulfill this purpose, DRA invests in projects supporting transportation infrastructure, basic public infrastructure, workforce training, and business development. 

For more information about DRA’s CIF funding availability, please visit Community Infrastructure Fund (CIF) – Delta Regional Authority www.dra.gov. For questions about CIF or DRA’s other critical infrastructure programs, please email sedap.cif@dra.gov.