Wilton’s Economic Development Commission (EDC) hosted a guest speaker Wednesday evening (Aug. 21) who discussed the Congressionally Directed Spending Program (CDS).
Jake Ecke, a staff member in Senator Chris Murphy‘s office whose work focuses on appropriations of federal dollars for projects in Connecticut, was invited to speak to the EDC about how CDS — also known as “earmarks” — can benefit Wilton.
Commissioner Peter Squitieri had prepared a number of questions, including the types of projects that might qualify, the timing of requests, chances of approval, and other topics about the process.
Wilton has had past success in obtaining CDS funding, such as the 2022 grant for nearly $1 million for Wilton’s emergency response communications system upgrade, and more recently, $1.425 million for drainage and flood mitigation that was planned for the Wilton High School sports complex.
Ecke provided a list of grants awarded to other municipalities that might spark ideas for Wilton. For example, Wilton EDC Commissioner Tom Shimko noticed a $2.5 million award to New Haven for a “career-focused learning center.”
CDS falls under the auspices of many different federal departments, from transportation to housing, education and more — but as Ecke noted, it is unlikely that a municipality would receive multiple awards in any one year. In fact, receiving any award is a long shot, with only a small fraction of all the applications being approved.
While the EDC is exploring how to assist the Town in securing funds that would otherwise mean higher budgets or more borrowing for the Town, commissioners are also wary of “stepping on the toes” of Town employees who might already be seeking CDS grants and who are well versed in navigating the complex application process.
“There’s so many people applying, we get so many great applications,” Ecke said. “What the committee likes to see [is] just a clear articulation [of] how this is going to benefit the community. We get a lot of projects that sound really great that we would love to fund, but sometimes it’s not always clear what is the community benefit that this is going to provide. Having a description of how exactly you want to spend the money, and again, what that money is going to do for the people who are going to benefit from the project — those tend to stand out.”
“It’s so hard. I do not envy the committee having to sift through thousands of applications,” Ecke continued. “I think that the ones that show the strong community focus are the ones that they tend to look most favorably on.”
An informative presentation about CDS is posted with the meeting agenda on the Town website.
The EDC’s next meeting is Sept. 18.