Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Selma tourism is one of six projects in the Black Belt slated to receive funding from the Delta Regional Authority (DRA).

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) announced $1.6 million in grant funding coming to Selma from the DRA on Tuesday.  The Selma Tourism Incubator project was awarded $509,000 to develop an Innovative Tourism Hub in the Queen City’s historic downtown.

“As a proud daughter of the Black Belt, I have made it a top priority to ensure that those living and working in the region get their fair share of federal resources and funding,” Sewell said. “These awards from the Delta Regional Authority will continue to reverse decades of disinvestment by bringing jobs and infrastructure upgrades directly to communities that need them most. As the only Member of Congress from Alabama to vote for President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, I’m very excited to see this funding coming to our communities and I applaud the Biden-Harris Administration for their continued focus on equity.”

The DRA was created in 2000 as a formal framework for joint federal-state collaboration to promote and encourage the economic development of the lower Mississippi River and Alabama Black Belt regions. The authority invests in projects supporting transportation infrastructure, basic public infrastructure, workforce training, and business development.

“The states’ Economic Development Assistance Program is one of DRA’s most diverse tools that allows us to expand and invest in the resiliency of the region’s public infrastructure and workforce,” DRA Federal Co-Chairman Dr. Corey Wiggins said.