Federal Reserve Bank of Boston offers funding contest for cities, Springfield included

All 20 of the cities have said they will participate, Chakrabarti said. But most are still formulating their contest entries. Nothing is due until late July and winners won’t be picked until January of 2014, Chakrabarti said. There will be six to eight winners receiving separate awards of $700,000 to $60,000 on the low end.

SPRINGFIELD — An organization dedicated to improving public health in the city is seeking funding through a Federal Reserve Bank of Boston contest that requires community and business leaders to work together on solutions to civic problems called the Working Cities Challenge.

“They have to have a common vision for what they do,” said Prabal Chakrabarti, vice president of regional and community outreach at the Boston Fed.

A. John "Jay" Minkarah, president and CEO of DevelopSpringfield, said his organization is preparing a proposal on behalf of Live Well Springfield. The idea is to expand Live Well Springfield’s focus beyond exercise, like a rowing program on the Connecticut River, and nutrition, like encouraging farmers markets, fresh produce and a full-service grocery store in the Mason Square neighborhood.

New programs could include housing, job preparedness and work force development, Minkarah said. But the nuts-and-bolts have yet to be decided, he said.

Minkarah was in Boston Friday when the Boston Fed conducted a kick-off event and informational seminar Friday for its Working Cities Challenge.

It’s a contest, Chakrabarti said by phone Friday, open to 20 downtrodden but rebuilding small cities across Massachusetts: Brockton, Chelsea, Chicopee, Everett, Fall River, Fitchburg, Haverhill, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, Malden, New Bedford, Pittsfield, Revere, Salem, Somerville, Springfield, Taunton, and Worcester.

All 20 of the cities have said they will participate, Chakrabarti said. But most are still formulating their contest entries. Nothing is due until late July and winners won’t be picked until January 2014, Chakrabarti said. There will be six to eight winners receiving separate awards of $700,000 to $60,000 on the low end.

But there is a catch, the Fed is only accepting one application from each city. Each city must work together on a plan in order to compete. “It’s about building community,” he said.

The program is similar to the City2City trips the Boston Fed has a hand in putting together. City2City has brought civic leaders from the Pioneer Valley to Allentown, Pa., Winston-Salem, N.C., and Grand Rapids, Mich.

“But it is not just the trip,” Chakrabarti said. “It’s about getting all these leaders from Springfield in a bus or a plane and getting them to talk to each other, break down those silos.”

Winning cities will have to show the Fed that they are making changes, Chakrabarti said.

“Are you going to change the way money flows around your city,” he said. The money comes from private donors and from the state.