The Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) is an American federal-state partnership for community and economic development near the CanadaâÂÂUnited States border, focusing on distressed counties in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York.
The NBRC was created as part of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. As of 2021, the NBRC has been reauthorized twice.
The Catalyst Program is a competitive grant program for regional projects that prioritizes infrastructure, waste, energy and telecommunications projects. The Forest Economy Program is a competitive grant that offers $7 million to the forest sector of the four states in the service area. The State Capacity Grant Program is a non-competitive grant to member states to support economic and infrastructure development plans.
Modeled off the Appalachian Regional Commission, the NBRC is led by a federal co-chair and the respective state governors. The federal co-chair nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. One of the governors is designated a state co-chair.
Chris Saunders was confirmed by the Senate on March 24, 2022, and began service on April 11, 2022.
The current voting members are:
The service area consists of upstate New York, most of Maine and New Hampshire, and all of Vermont.