A rural jobs accelerator partnership (Partnership) organizes key community and regional stakeholders into a working group that focuses on the shared goals and needs of the targeted industry cluster(s). To be eligible for a RISE grant under this subpart, the Partnership must be formed on or after December 20, 2018, and meet each of the criteria specified in paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section. The Agency will determine a Partnership's eligibility based on the criteria herein.

(a) The Partnership must include one or more representatives of the following:

(1) A State, Tribal or local government;

(2) A State, Tribal, or local government entity;

(3) A land-grant college or university or other institution of higher education, as defined in the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001);

(4) A rural non-profit cooperative; or

(5) A private entity, which may include a business in an industry cluster, economic development or community development organization, financial institution including a community development financial institution, philanthropic organization or labor organization.

(b) The Partnership must have a lead applicant represented by one of the following:

(1) A district organization;

(2) An Indian Tribe or a political subdivision of a Tribe, including a special purpose unit of a tribal government engaged in economic development activities, or a consortium of Indian Tribes;

(3) A State or a political subdivision of a State, including a special purpose unit of a State or local government engaged in economic development activities, or a consortium of political subdivisions;

(4) An institution of higher education (as defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) or a consortium of institutions of higher education; or

(5) A public or private nonprofit organization.

(c) The Partnership and its project must serve a rural region, as defined.

(d) The Partnership must clearly define the region that the partnership represents and ensure that the Region encompasses each of the following:

(1) Is large enough to contain critical elements of the industry cluster prioritized by the partnership;

(2) Is small enough to enable close collaboration among members of the partnership;

(3) Includes a majority of communities that are located in the following:

(i) A nonmetropolitan area that qualifies as a low-income community; and

(ii) An area that has access to or has a plan to achieve broadband service, as defined; and

(4) Has a population of 50,000 or fewer inhabitants or, for a region with a population of more than 50,000 inhabitants, is comprised of rural areas and urbanized areas, if any, are the subject of a positive determination by the Under Secretary for Rural Development with respect to a rural-in-character petition, including such a petition submitted concurrently with the application of the partnership for a grant under this section.

(e) One or more members of the Partnership must be located in the targeted region. The Partnership may consist of industry entities and other partners outside of the targeted region.