Build Northwest Center of Excellence
The Challenge
Despite the interconnected nature of commerce across the greater Pacific Northwest, the region lacks a comprehensive infrastructure improvement strategy that examines investments from a multi-state or corridor-focused perspective. Greater collaboration between states is needed to ensure the region is competitive in the global marketplace and to ensure residents have safe, reliable transportation infrastructure.
While the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) of 2021 provides billions of dollars in infrastructure investment, understanding notices of funding opportunity (NOFO) requirements and complex grant or financing programs can be incredibly difficult. Additionally, some infrastructure projects fall under the purview of multiple agencies. The departments of transportation, energy and commerce, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), all have programs with eligibilities for EV charging infrastructure - and these are just federal examples. State and local governments also play a crucial role in developing and executing these projects.
While large public agencies can hire consultants to help navigate this space, small cities, rural areas and low-income or historically disadvantaged communities often don’t have the staff time or expertise to successfully apply to existing federal programs, or to keep tabs on new ones.
PNWER RIA Solutions
The Pacific NorthWest Economic Region Regional Infrastructure Accelerator (PNWER RIA) program serves the five US states of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington to provide innovative financing and project development options for projects of regional importance. As a U.S. DOT designated RIA, the PNWER RIA is a recognized convener, with staff and resources to support project development.
PNWER has 30 years of success as a collaborative forum, bringing together policymakers and private sector stakeholders to strengthen the regional economy of member states and provinces in the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada. PNWER is dedicated to the development of corridors, gateways, and improved border infrastructure between the U.S. and Canada.
The PNWER RIA program helps identify state and federal financing opportunities and Public Private Partnerships (P3s) to accelerate the delivery of transportation projects with region-wide benefits. Projects selected for acceleration must have region-wide impacts and meet at least one of the following criteria:
Ease supply chain disruptions
Reduce transportation-related pollution
Increase community safety, economic vitality and environmental justice
Currently the PNWER RIA is accelerating two priority projects: the Pines Road Highway-Rail Grade Separation and Drayage Emission Reduction through Electrification at the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma.
To learn more about these projects, visit their program pages.
NEWSLETTER
The RIA publishes monthly newsletters about project progress and what we’ve been up to recently! You can subscribe to the newsletter below, or read through our old newsletters.
