(DES MOINES, IA) – The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA), last week, announced that grant awards totaling more than $3.3 million have been awarded to the communities of Arcadia, Crystal Lake, Elgin, Fostoria, Guttenberg, Hospers, Oelwein, Spencer and Yale to assist water and sewer infrastructure projects through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Yale, located in Guthrie County, was awarded a grant for $267,000 for water and sewer installation and improvement projects.

Iowa Finance Authority Director Debi Durham said “Investments in water infrastructure are vital to supporting Iowa families and businesses.” The CDBG program is federally funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. IEDA is responsible for administering the CDBG funds in the non-metropolitan areas of the state. CDBG funds enable communities to make needed improvements to water and sewer systems, improve housing conditions for low-income homeowners, provide facilities for disabled and at-risk individuals and make transformative downtown improvements.

IEDA received 15 applications totaling $5.47 million in funding requests and had $3.3 million available for allocation. Grants are awarded based upon the benefit to low- and moderate-income persons, financial need, project impact and readiness and commitment of local resources to the project.

For more information on CDBG or other community programs, visit iowaeda.com.

The awards list is available here.