The Department of Business and Economic Affairs (BEA) oversees and administers state and federal grants aligned with its mission to help New Hampshire businesses grow and thrive.
Grants managed by BEA are:
Paper and Pulp Manufacturing Industry Stabilization Program – Provides competitive grant funding to boost the financial stability of the state’s pulp and paper manufacturers. (Applications due March 15, 4 pm.)
State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) – BEA’s Office of International Commerce oversees the STEP program, which provides funding and programming to New Hampshire’s small businesses that seek to enter, or expand, their global markets.
Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) – NBRC is a is a federal-state partnership for economic and community development in New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, and Maine. BEA administers the program within the state and works with eligible communities and organizations throughout the year.
New Hampshire Joint Promotional Program (JPP) – Provides funding to invest in tourism promotional initiatives developed by groups and organizations encouraging the development of quality out-of-state and in-state promotion projects.
InvestNH Housing – This program, using the state’s allocation of $100 million of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF), accelerates the approval and construction of affordable workforce housing. Its key programs are:
- Capital Grant Program – A total of $60 million available for developers/owners of multi-family rental housing adding housing stock to be used for long-term residential rentals only. (Program is closed.)
- Municipal Grant Program/Demolition – Makes available $5 million to municipalities to use for demolition of vacant and dilapidated buildings that is part of a larger revitalization or greening plan.
- Municipal Grant Program/Per Unit – A total of $30 million is available to municipalities providing an incentive of $10,000 per unit of new affordable housing they permit, subject to conditions.
- Municipal Grant Program/ Planning and Zoning – The Housing Opportunity Planning (HOP) Grants Program makes available $5 million to municipalities that are analyzing and updating their land use regulations to increase housing development. The New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority facilitates this program.
Office of Broadband Initatives - This program, was one of the first states to receive approval for its broadband expansion program as part of the American Rescue Plan Act’s (ARPA) Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund. The Office has developed and implemented programs to bring high-speed internet to thousands of underserved and unserved areas of the state.
- Broadband Matching Grants Initiative (BMGI) – This $25 million matching grant program, from the state’s allocation of Capital Projects Fund (CPF), is available to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and municipalities to improve broadband availability across the state.
- Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) – BEA received $196.5 million from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to bring high-speed broadband to the unserved and underserved locations in the state.