U.S. awards cities millions in stimulus grants

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government awarded $14.6 million in stimulus grants on Monday to strapped cities and counties across the country aimed at attracting private investment to local economies and creating jobs.

The largest grant, $4.5 million, went to the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago to refurbish a building, the Commerce Department said.

The grant will help create new higher-skill jobs and boost private investment in the Chicago region, said Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.

The grants were awarded by the Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration.

In the last week of August, the department made another burst of grants totaling $21.6 million that were authorized by the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, passed in February. The stimulus act allotted $150 million in total for business development in distressed areas.

Some of the grants have gone to infrastructure projects, such as repairing waterworks or extending roads, while others have had a more direct impact on business, such as a $4.3 million grant made to Scottsburg, Indiana, to construct a conference hall that will also serve as a "manufacturing/technology business incubator."

In addition to the Chicago grant, the federal government gave a $2.5 million grant to Dorchester County, South Carolina, to support science. The department said the money will help create infrastructure to help new firms establish themselves in its expanding "biotechnology cluster."

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Dan Grebler)