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NEBRASKA — From small towns to major cities, the Nebraska Infrastructure Hub has spent the last year connecting communities to federal dollars, making more infrastructure projects possible.
This month, the Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) is celebrating the first anniversary of the IHub. Launched in August of 2024, the IHub is the state’s first-ever intergovernmental entity focused on empowering state and local public agencies in competing for federal discretionary grants.
The IHub is a response to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) of 2021, also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The IIJA introduced unprecedented federal discretionary funding opportunities, but local agencies often found that applying for grants can be complicated to navigate.
For the last year, the IHub has served as a one stop shop for local and state agencies, providing resources and guidance to make receiving federal discretionary funds more attainable to meet infrastructure needs across the state. The IHub offers several key components including a Grant Pairing Portal and a Project Development Support Team to help guide agencies through the application process as well as grant management.
“One of the biggest hurdles that we heard from our local public agencies was their lack of discretionary grant knowledge. Whether that was applying for them or managing the projects, it was a huge need for Nebraska,” Jodi Gibson, NDOT Local Assistance Division Manager, said.
Since its inception, the IHub has:
• Supported 60 local agencies from 50 counties.
• Reviewed 86 projects for funding opportunities and is currently assisting locals in securing funding for 45 of those projects.
• Managed 18 awarded projects totaling over $177 million in grants and congressional delegations.
• In 2024, the IHub announced 37 awards across 18 counties totaling more than $56 million in discretionary transportation grants, and $98 million in congressional delegations.
• So far in 2025, six awards have been announced across four counties totaling nearly $74 million in discretionary transportation grants.
In addition, the IHub has engaged with representatives from all 93 Nebraska counties since its launch, team members traveled nearly 5,700 miles to meet with 286 stakeholders in 15 counties and provided more than 160 hours of direct assistance.
This crucial work has not gone unnoticed. In July, NDOT brought home two regional awards from the 2025 America’s Transportation Awards competition for the Western Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (WASHTO) region. The IHub won the award for “Quality of Life and Community Development.”
“I’m very excited that we now have a year underneath our belt of the Infrastructure Hub. We’ve learned a lot, and we now know how to better help our local agencies. I’m excited for what the future holds,” Gibson said.
Local agencies can learn more about the IHub by visiting ndot.info/infrastructure.
