For a project to be eligible to receive a RISE grant under this subpart, the proposed project must meet the requirements specified in paragraphs (a) through (e) of this section. The applicant project outcome must accelerate the formation of new businesses with high-growth potential, improve the ability of rural businesses and distressed rural communities to create high-wage jobs, and strengthen rural regional economies by engaging in one or more of the following eligible uses:

(a) The construction or purchase of a building to serve as an innovation center located in a rural low-income community which establishes and/or supports a jobs accelerator and any equipment needs of the innovation center to support the jobs accelerator;

(b) Be for the support of programs to be carried out at or in direct partnership with the jobs accelerator or in support of jobs accelerator initiatives including one or more of the following:

(1) Linking rural communities and entrepreneurs to markets, networks, industry clusters, and other regional opportunities to support high-wage job creation, new business formation, business expansion, and economic growth of rural communities;

(2) Integrating rural small businesses into a supply chain;

(3) Creating or expanding commercialization activities for new business formation in rural areas;

(4) Identifying and building assets in rural communities that are crucial to supporting regional economies;

(5) Facilitating the repatriations of high-wage jobs to the United States;

(6) Supporting the deployment of innovative processes, technologies, and products;

(7) Enhancing the capacity of rural small businesses in regional industry clusters, including small and disadvantaged businesses;

(8) Increasing United States exports and business interaction with international buyers and suppliers;

(9) Developing the skills and expertise of local workforces, entrepreneurs, and institutional partners in the region to meet the needs of employers and prepare workers for high-wage jobs in the identified industry clusters, including the upskilling of incumbent workers;

(10) Ensuring rural communities have the capacity and ability to carry out projects relating to housing, community facilities, infrastructure, or community and economic development to support regional industry cluster growth;

(11) Any activities that the Agency may determine to be appropriate, as specified in a Federal Register notice.

(c) Not more than 10 percent of a RISE grant awarded under this section shall be used for indirect costs of the applicant associated with administering the RISE grant. The Agency may increase this percentage as a documented exception on a case by case basis.

(d) The innovation center may be physically located in a rural area as defined in § 4284.1103 or in a non-rural area; as long as assistance being provided is to residents located in a rural area. The innovation center must be located in a rural low-income community if grant funds are used for the construction or purchase of an innovation center.

(e) The applicant is cautioned against taking any actions or incurring any obligations prior to the Agency completing the environmental review that would either limit the range of alternatives to be considered or that would have an adverse effect on the environment, such as the initiation of construction. If the applicant takes any such actions or incurs any such obligations, it could result in project ineligibility. Projects involving the construction of an innovation center as an eligible purpose are subject to the environmental requirements of 7 CFR part 1970.