The National Agenda
A national portfolio for America’s next era.
Applied America runs America 275. It sets the national priorities, originates the projects that serve them, develops each one to the same standard, assembles its capital, and carries it through construction into operation, in one pipeline the public can follow.
What it is
A structured national framework.
America 275 is a national initiative: a structured way to identify national priorities, originate the projects that serve them, and develop them as a coordinated set, so that each one strengthens the others.
What ties them together is one standard. Across every priority area, a project earns its place the same way — because a national portfolio is only as credible as the weakest project inside it.
The number in the name
The target, and what is in development against it.
The full circle is the number of projects America 275 targets; the arc is the part of it already in development.
Flagship initiatives in active development.
How the portfolio works
An initiative, layer by layer.
National priorities at the top; a visible portfolio at the bottom; a common discipline throughout.
- National prioritiesWhat is worth building.
- OriginationFinding the projects that serve them.
- Development standardThe common bar every project clears.
- Stage-gated pipelineTracked progress, gate by gate.
- A visible portfolioOpen to partners, communities, and the public.
Why 275
Scale matched to the need.
A coordinated portfolio
A single project cannot rebuild national capacity; a coordinated portfolio can.
Across industries and regions
Six priority areas, nationwide: four strategic industries and two enabling conditions.
A common standard
Every project is held to the same five expectations, whatever the sector.
A pipeline you can see
Projects move through five stages — Identify, Structure, Develop, Prepare, Deliver — tracked and reported.
First questions
275 is the ambition, not the count.
No. It names the ambition of the portfolio. Nine flagship initiatives are in active development now; the rest of the 275 is a pipeline to be nominated, screened, and developed over years.
Governments, companies, communities, and institutions can nominate industrial, infrastructure, technology, or regional-development opportunities for review. Every nomination is read; most of the portfolio is expected to arrive this way.
Applied America is the nonprofit division of CEFA that runs America 275. It sets the national priorities, originates the projects, develops each to a common standard, assembles and commits its capital stack, and carries it through construction into operation, reporting progress with the shortfalls included.
No. America 275 is a national initiative, not a fund. Applied America assembles each project’s capital stack — grants, lenders, investors, foundations, and public programs matched to its stage and risk — and brings that capital to the project. Each capital partner makes its own investment decision.
Six: critical minerals and materials; manufacturing and energy; technology and defense; health, agriculture, and workforce; infrastructure; and regional development. Four are strategic industries; the other two are enabling conditions that industry projects depend on rather than industries in their own right. The priorities within each evolve as national needs change.
Every project earns its place the same way — for public value, feasibility, readiness, partnership, and measurable outcomes — even though a magnesium platform and an integrated-care campus prove those things with entirely different evidence. The bar is constant; the proof is not.
No. It is run by a nonprofit division of CEFA and works with governments, companies, communities, and institutions. Public bodies take part as partners, but the framework itself is independent.
Projects move through five stages — Identify, Structure, Develop, Prepare, Deliver — each closed by a readiness gate, and their progress is tracked and reported so partners, communities, and the public can see where the pipeline stands. Visibility is a design principle of America 275, not a marketing claim.
America 275 has one dated target: ten million jobs by 2051, America’s 275th anniversary. The ambition of 275 projects has no completion date; projects are added and advanced continually as they are nominated, screened, and developed.
Begin with the national priorities to see where the portfolio focuses, then nominate a project or register the capability your organization brings. Every nomination receives a preliminary review.
Have a project for the national portfolio?
Nominate an industrial, infrastructure, technology, or regional-development opportunity and it will be reviewed against the same criteria as every other.