In the next few weeks, MTC will launch its newly developed Regional Node Planning Grant Program. These six-month grants will fund the planning necessary to create “nodes” which are intended to incentivize more of Missouri’s communities to successfully coalesce their assets to best support innovation and entrepreneurship through strategic, coordinated partnerships among entrepreneurial service organizations within the “node”.
As identified in the Catalyzing Innovation Report, MTC is prioritizing funding organizations and programs that are directly aligned with the strategies and action items included in the report. The Regional Node Planning Grant Program supports regional efforts for delivery of quality entrepreneurial support services.
Regions can use this funding to collaboratively develop plans that clearly articulate the role of each partner organization that will participate in the “node” and how the node will eliminate regional silos. Thereby creating a node where the sum of the partners is greater than the individual parts.
Because coalescing a region around a coordinated plan to support a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem might prove difficult for some regions, planning grants will be awarded in early FY24 to help incentivize regions to coordinate their resources and develop a strategy for service delivery.
A Regional Node Implementation Grant Program will be launched in the spring of FY24 and awarded in early FY25. While not required, regions that successfully leverage a Regional Node Planning Grant to create a vibrant and well-thought-out regional node plan will be the most competitive.
Maximum Grant Amount: $50,000
- Additional details on the maximum grant award amounts as determined based on the size and complexity of the region will be released with the grant program guidelines.
Eligibility: The primary applicant/fiscal agent must either be a public or private non-profit Missouri research institution, including institutions of higher education or a non-profit entrepreneurial support organization.
Applicant Requirements: One entity must be designated as the primary applicant/fiscal agent for the grant. This is the organization that MTC will communicate directly with during the application process and active grant period. This is also the organization that will enter into the grant agreement with MTC and subsequently will be awarded and receive the grant funding. Each grant proposal submitted for consideration is required to include at least three partner organizations that will also be required to engage in the activities of the planning grant. Partner organizations will be required to submit letters of commitment in the application.
Application Timeline:
Applications open in late August 2023 and close in mid-September, 2023.
