Improving Economies for Stronger Communities (IESC)
2000 M Street NW
Suite 250
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: 202-589-2600
Email: iesc@iesc.org
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Cost-Shared Grants
Cost-shared grants—grants that include funding from IESC programs coupled with grantee matching funds—are central to IESC’s work in catalyzing private sector growth and employment. Through the strategic use of competitively awarded cost-shared grants, along with targeted IESC technical assistance, we engage with and strengthen the capacity of entrepreneurs; farmers; micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs); skills training institutions; financial institutions; and private sector associations—and help them achieve their goals. IESC’s proven and innovative model for cost-shared grants includes a pay-for-results incentive, as appropriate, to facilitate innovation and drive impact.
Program Examples
Sri Lanka
Tourism Resilience Project
Funder: European Union
Grantee Dunali Mountains, an eco-retreat along the Pekoe Trail, and guests
Program overview: The Tourism Resilience Project supported Sri Lanka’s tourism recovery and resilience by retaining jobs and small businesses through the provision of small grants and technical assistance. IESC supported sustainability and innovation through the development of new and diversified tourism products. The program also supported small and medium enterprises aligned to those tourism products to help them compete in the changing tourism landscape.
Relation to IESC expertise: Through the program’s Economic Opportunity Grants Fund, IESC provided cost-shared grants to tourism MSMEs located near the Pekoe Trail—a program-initiated walking trail and tourism experience. Through these grants, IESC supported enterprises to develop new or improved products and services to meet the expected demand from travelers on the trail. All grants included a grantee cost-share based on the revenue of the business, thereby receiving matching funds from even micro and small enterprises. This enabled buy-in from grantees and contributed to the sustainability of the businesses catering to tourism along the trail.
Republic of Georgia
Industry-led Skills Development
Funder: USAID
Graduate of Kutaisi International University’s cybersecurity training program Liana Charkviani. Photo from Kutaisi International University.
Program overview: The Industry-led Skills Development program is developing industry-relevant human capacity that contributes to high-value employment opportunities and increased economic competitiveness in Georgia. The program is achieving this via a $13-million grants fund, by systematically engaging employers to equip Georgians with skills demanded in sectors with high growth potential, and by creating direct linkages between training programs and employment opportunities.
Relation to IESC expertise: IESC uses a $13-million competitive cost-share grants fund, which co-invests in initiatives that facilitate and leverage private sector engagement in skills development to address workforce needs in Georgia. Target industries include healthcare, construction, agriculture, finance, transportation, ICT, and manufacturing. The grants are performance and milestone based, include a pay-for-performance model, and mobilize cost-share from grantees to ensure they are committed to achieving results. Through the grants, IESC has incentivized the private sector to engage in innovative pilot projects, develop short- and long-term training programs that meet market demand, and increase access to training for rural and priority populations.
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)
Workforce and Higher Access to Markets (WHAM)
Funder: USAID
IESC hydraulics training at Tri-Best in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Program overview: WHAM assisted high-growth, exporting, and export-ready small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in specific sectors through grants and volunteer technical assistance that improved the workforce. The program helped companies identify and access new customers and markets, quality management systems, technology upgrades, and necessary certifications in demand by target markets, especially the EU. WHAM also supported the establishment of centers of excellence in the targeted sectors.
Relation to IESC expertise: In Bosnia and Herzegovina, IESC’s $2.6-million grant fund generated more than $3.2 million in in-kind contributions. IESC leveraged contributions from its private sector grantees, which included groups of SMEs and training centers. Companies supported by workforce training cost-shared grants could train and employ non-traditional employees, introducing women into higher-paid manufacturing jobs traditionally held by men. Cost-shared grants also supported new product innovations. One grant combined academic experience in Banja Luka from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and practical engineering experience from the SME Tri-Best. They jointly developed a hydraulic press for recycling material, creating a machine that pressed garbage and reduced its volume five times.