The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and its partners are excited to announce the eligibility criteria for the Connecticut Working Cities Challenge, a grant competition that is designed to support cross-sector, collaborative leadership and ambitious economic development strategies to improve the lives of low-income people in small- and mid-size cities in Connecticut.

Sixteen communities in total are eligible to compete in the Challenge. The first step for collaborative leaders from the nonprofit, private and public sectors, and community leaders for these communities will be applying for a design grant starting in November 2016. Design grants afford select cities' teams the opportunity to build their capacity and strengthen collaborative leadership as they develop their initiatives. Following the five month learning and planning phase, design grantees may apply for implementation grants in October 2017. Awards will be in the range of $300,000–$500,000, funding efforts over a three year period.

 Before the design grant process gets underway, collaborators will have four opportunities to learn more about the Working Cities initiative at information sessions scheduled throughout the state beginning September 23. Each session will provide an overview of the Working Cities Challenge, the RFP process, and the various criteria cities should consider.

Connecticut’s Meriden Green, which has gone through a physical transformation in recent years from struggling commercial development site to thriving green space, will be the location of a launch celebration, on October 4, bringing together interested stakeholders from eligible communities, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren, and other partners. 

The Working Cities Challenge in Connecticut will build upon the success of the initiative in Rhode Island and Massachusetts (now in its second round of competition). Those interested can follow the progress of the Working Cities Challenge across the region on Facebook and Twitter.