CENTRAL OKLAHOMA REGION RECEIVES $2.5 MILLION IN RURAL ECONOMIC ACTION PLAN (REAP) GRANT FUNDS

ACOG Awards 16 Rural Communities Funding to Address Infrastructure & Transportation Needs

The Rural Economic Action Plan (REAP) is essential to providing Oklahoma communities with populations under 7,000, the opportunity to improve their infrastructure and quality of life. The Association of Central Oklahoma Governments (ACOG), as administrator of REAP funds in Central Oklahoma, will distribute $2.5 million to 16 communities in Canadian, Cleveland, Logan, and Oklahoma Counties in 2023.

ACOG, as a regional Council of Governments, is the state appointed agency to distribute its equal share of the $30 million the Oklahoma Department of Commerce allocated for the REAP Program in 2023.  After an objective application and scoring process, the ACOG Board of Directors approved the selected REAP 2023 projects at their November 2022 meeting, with projects totaling $2,590,909.09.

 For a complete list of selected Central Oklahoma 2023 REAP Projects, including a description and funding amount awarded, click here.

“ACOG is excited to distribute such an unparalleled amount of funds to our smaller communities in Central Oklahoma,” Christopher Bluth, ACOG Community & Economic Development Manager, said. “This is the largest amount of REAP funding that Oklahoma Councils of Governments have received since the inception of the program.”

During the 2022 Legislative Session, Oklahoma lawmakers allocated $30 million to the Oklahoma Department of Commerce for the REAP program.  In FY 2023, as the distributor of REAP funding for the Central Oklahoma region, ACOG will distribute an unprecedented $2.7 million to communities in Canadian, Cleveland, Logan, and Oklahoma counties.

REAP grants require no match and may fund projects such as road and street construction or repair, drainage projects, rural highway improvements, county bridge construction or repair, industrial access road construction or repair, among other specific transportation projects.

REAP grants may include improvements in rural water quality, rural solid waste disposal or treatment, rural sanitary sewer construction or upgrades, provision of rural health care services (including emergency medical care), telecommunications improvements, projects that increase employment levels, and municipal energy distribution system improvements.