Case Construction Equipment has issued the call for entries for the 2019 Dire States Equipment Grant. Submissions can be made at DireStates.com/Grant. The 2019 entry deadline is March 31, 2019, and the winner will be announced in April 2019.

Originally launched in 2016, the Dire States Grant provides one winning community with $25,000 in free equipment use to help offset the costs of building or repairing a critical piece of local infrastructure. Representatives of municipal, county and other local governments are eligible to apply. Entrants will be asked to describe the project and provide a detailed assessment of how that local piece of infrastructure will benefit the community.

Examples of suitable infrastructure projects include: road/bridge repair or construction, utility pipe replacement, erosion control along lakes and rivers, wastewater system improvements, school projects and park/recreational construction. All projects that fall within the 16 core categories of infrastructure, as identified by ASCE in its Infrastructure Report Card, will be considered.

The 2018 winner was Surrey, N.D. The community used the grant to significantly transform the city's rainwater runoff and roadway drainage.

"We wouldn't have been able to complete this amount of work in 100 years — and this has saved Surrey more than $100,000 in work that otherwise wouldn't have been done," said Keith Hegney, public works director, Surrey, N.D.

Examples of suitable infrastructure projects include: road/bridge repair or construction, utility pipe replacement, erosion control along lakes and rivers, wastewater system improvements, school projects and park/recreational construction.

"Surrey represents the ideal Dire States entrant — a community that was able to show the compounding benefit of infrastructure improvements on other elements of the city's systems and future growth," said Michel Marchand, vice president — North America, Case Construction Equipment. "Entries for this grant have increased exponentially each year, which highlights the continued need for a greater focus on local infrastructure funding and development."

"While Federal funding is critical to long-term sustainability of the nation's infrastructure, it's the network of local projects that most directly impact our daily lives," said Athena Campos, senior director of marketing, Case Construction Equipment. "At Case, we're working together with our dealers and customers to make a difference in building those local communities."

All local governments in the United States are eligible to apply. A full list of rules and submission criteria are available at DireStates.com/Grant. For more information on Dire States, visit DireStates.com. For more information on Case, visit CaseCE.com.

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