Gov. Chet Culver announced today that the I-JOBS board has approved $30 million in funds to assist the construction of 23 disaster-prevention-related initiatives in 21 counties.

$2.1 million in I-JOBS funding was awarded to Polk County to reconstruct the existing Central Place levee to meet U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Federal Emergency Management Agency standards to protect the business park, which suffered significant flood damage in 1993.

I-JOBS is an initiative pushed by Culver in 2009, designed to rebuild communities affected by the natural disasters of 2008 and to invest in Iowa’s infrastructure and long-term economic growth.

The Iowa Legislature appropriated the $30 million to the I-JOBS board for a disaster -prevention grant program earlier this year. The program was designed to allocate funds to cities and counties on a competitive basis, and the Iowa Finance Authority judged 142 applications totaling more than $124.1 million in requests.

The city of Cedar Rapids received the most in grant money with a total of more than $7.6 million, including $6.6 million for the Cedar Rapids Fire Department.

The I-JOBS board has awarded $225.9 million in natural disaster relief and prevention since its inception.