LITACorp Secures $4 million U.S. Department of Transportation Grant for the Town of Berwick, Louisiana
For Immediate Release
May 13, 2024
Media Contact:
Alex Holland
Senior Advisor
alex@litacorp.org
The Town of Berwick, Louisiana has secured $4,035,045 in funding through the Fiscal Year 2023 Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization (NGDISM) grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (U.S. DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. The NGDISM grant program supports municipalities and community-owned utilities with repairing, rehabilitating, or replacing their natural gas distribution pipeline systems or with acquiring equipment to reduce incidents and facilities and to avoid economic losses. The Town of Berwick will utilize their grant funds to replace and modernize more than 13 miles of service lines for 510 customers and replace aging meters servicing 250 customers.
Through the Technical Assistance Program (TAP), the Louisiana Infrastructure Technical Assistance Corporation (LITACorp) provided the Town of Berwick with support in reviewing a previous year's NGDISM funding proposal. This assistance included editing the proposal and submitting the revised application package to the U.S. DOT.
“Today is a great day not only for the Town of Berwick, but for rural and under-advantaged communities all across Louisiana,” said Leslie Durham, Executive Director of LITACorp. “Our technical assistance team at LITACorp has worked extremely hard to engage with and support communities that have historically had little or no success competing for federal grants. Berwick’s NGDISM grant is the first of many wins for Louisiana communities thanks to the support of Governor Jeff Landry, the Louisiana State Legislature, Division of Administration, Police Jury Association of Louisiana, and Louisiana Municipal Association.”
Since July 2023, LITACorp has submitted 11 grant applications to secure more than $144 million in funding for Louisiana communities under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Louisiana communities interested in receiving technical assistance can submit a Letter of Interest to LITACorp at www.LITACorp.org.
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The Louisiana Infrastructure Technical Assistance Corporation (LITACorp) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to advance the economic prosperity of Louisiana communities. LITACorp is a collaborative partnership between the Louisiana Municipal Association and the Police Jury Association of Louisiana to assist local governments with accessing federal grants through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to construct, improve, and repair public infrastructure in rural and economically distressed communities.