Smaller-sized cities are often at a disadvantage competing for federal grants, lacking the staff, in-house knowhow and other resources that their larger peers can depend on when going after the money.

But now, with billions of dollars of the grants available to local governments in the 2021 infrastructure law, the National League of Cities, with support of philanthropic backers, is trying to change that dynamic and give smaller cities a better shot at winning federal dollars. The group is running a series grant application “bootcamps” for 30 different infrastructure law programs. The new initiative, open to cities with fewer than 150,000 residents, kicked off late last year, with a second round about to get underway later this month…

Each bootcamp is tied to a specific grant program in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act