Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland announced the selections, saying the projects are designed to help communities move forward by meeting them where they are and providing tools and resources to turn ideas into action.
Which programs received awards
FRAME (Fostering Residential Advancement through Mentoring and Education): A grant supporting technical and community colleges in Kansas to enhance and expand programs that train skilled trade workers while addressing housing needs, including building homes, collaborating with local high school students, and creating workforce training.
Kansas Community Empowerment Listening Tour: The beginning of Commerce’s administration of the Kansas Community Empowerment program, with agency travel across Kansas to listen to communities, understand priorities, and build a participation framework for communities of different sizes and capacity levels.
ROOMS (Residential Opportunities on Main Street): A program encouraging renovation of upper floors in commercial buildings with local Main Street districts to create new housing opportunities in downtowns, preserve existing properties, and expand the local tax base.
The NADO awards recognize 94 winning projects led by 58 organizations across 20 states and will be recognized at NADO’s 2026 Annual Training Conference in Reno, Nevada, this October.