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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 113 / Tuesday, June 15, 2021 / Rules and Regulations recommended that the Agency emphasize high impact metrics including creation and retention of high-wage jobs, private investment leveraging, businesses established or improved, new products or services commercialized, increased regional collaboration, the number and dollar amount of new loans, improvement of income of participating workers, sales of participating businesses, and the amount of training and education activities related to the innovation.
Response: The Agency considered these items and many of these items were included in the application content and scoring. The Agency addressed grant monitoring metrics in the servicing section of the regulation.
The Agency provided an analysis of the partnerships abilities in the application and scoring content of the regulation.
Comment: Three commenters indicated that applicants should fully demonstrate commitment and sustainability of the project in their applications.
Response: The Agency agrees with this comment and includes input on technology, scope, commitment, and sustainability of the project and incorporated these items not only in the application but also in the scoring criteria for the RISE program.
Comment: One commenter discussed the applicant providing details of organization, governance, operations, and roles of partners in the partnership.
One commenter discussed what the application should consist of including a definition of the consortium of entities, roles of each partner, business plan, description of the region in economic terms, activities to be performed by the partnership, how the partnership will collect metrics of performance on itself and a communication plan outlining how success stories and impacts will be outlined.
Response: The Agency considered details of the partnership from organization to governance and included these components in the application requirements and scoring criteria.
Comment: One commenter suggested the Agency evaluate proposals by different standards.
Response: The Agency does not agree with using different standards for the evaluation of applications and will evaluate all proposals by the same scoring criteria.
Comment: Two commenters discussed an assessment of the applicants link with rural communities to markets, networks, industry clusters and other regional opportunities and
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assets plus the characteristics for regional readiness and success.
Response: The Agency considered these comments to develop benchmarks of readiness and commitment to the identified region in scoring criteria to make awards that will generate the intended program outcomes.
Comment: Several commenters suggested including a rating factor of the amount of previous partnership activities and resources that will be leveraged by the RISE grant activities and developing successful benchmarks ranging from quantifying prototypes, technology and jobs to markets criteria.
Response: The Agency appreciates the suggested metrics and included many of these in the regulation and scoring criteria.
Comment: Two commenters discussed measurement of outcomebased metrics including business, employment and wage growth and job training as well as patent applications in its grant monitoring. Several commenters indicated that grant servicing reports should be no more frequent than semi-annual due to the length of the grant period.
Response: The Agency addressed grant monitoring metrics in the servicing section of the regulation. The Agency agrees and will monitor performance metrics and outcomes of grant funds on a semi-annual basis.
Comment: Commenter discussed the statutory requirement of a 20 percent cost match of the RISE Program and requested the Agency not to require the entire portion of the match to be demonstrated at the application stage, but instead to allow applicants to produce the remainder of any cost-share commitment up to a year after award.
Response: The Agency is unable to consider an option to delay grant matching requirements due to statutory requirements of the RISE Program. The input of matching funds at grant origination demonstrates the applicants commitment to the project.
Comment: One commenter discussed the Agency extending past the ten percent restriction on indirect costs for awarded entities.
Response: The ten percent limitation on indirect costs and administrative expenses is a statutory requirement and cannot be modified as suggested.
Comment: One commenter discussed the ability of innovation centers to be virtual in lieu of having a physical building centered in one community.
Response: A virtual option is allowable under RISE if a rural region is being served and all other eligible criteria are met. The Agency did clarify
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that the construction of an innovation center must be in a rural area only.
Comment: One commenter suggested allowing grant funding to be spent on multiple activities including training and support of businesses, support research and development activities to develop markets, development of partnerships to deal with supply issues and obtaining resources for workforce development programs.
Response: The Agency developed eligible project costs to cover multiple activities including the purchase and construction of an innovation center, costs directly related to the operations of an innovation center, costs directly associated with support programs to be carried out at or in direct partnership with job accelerators as well as other administrative costs providing the ability to cover training and development.
Comment: One commenter suggested that the jobs accelerator be able to serve multiple communities with populations of 50,000 or less.
Response: The Agency concurs with the comment regarding ability to serve multiple communities and has a statutory responsibility to ensure this.
Comment: One commenter indicated the Agency should ensure a region is not too small.
Response: The Agency addressed the definition of a region in the RISE
regulation in compliance with the statutory requirements.
List of Subjects for 7 CFR Part 4284
Community development, Cooperative development, Grant programs, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Accordingly, for reasons set forth in the preamble, Chapter XLII of Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations is amended as follows:
PART 4284GRANTS
1. The authority citation for part 4284
continues to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301 and 7 U.S.C. 1989.

2. Add subpart L, consisting of 4284.1101 through 4264.1131, to read as follows:

Subpart LRural Innovation Stronger Economy RISE Grant Program Sec.
4284.1101 Purpose.
4284.1102 Organization of subpart.
4284.1103 Definitions.
4284.1104 Exception authority.
4284.1105 Review or appeal rights.
4284.1106 Conflict of interest.
4284.1107 Statute and regulation references.

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