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What is a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy?

What is a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy?

Does your community, region or planning commission have a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy? If you do, it is a wonderful asset. If not, you might be missing out on opportunities to improve the economic condition of your area.

Let’s take a step back – just what is a comprehensive economic development strategy? A Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy, also know as a CEDS, is a document that outlines the economic conditions of an area as well as a plan of action for solving these problems. The United States Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration has a very specific set of items they require in a CEDS. A CEDS should:

• Demonstrate sound and continuous planning to guide the economic growth of a region

• Be developed with broad participation from a diverse selection of community members so that all viewpoints are considered

• Contain a record of the area’s economic history as well as a report on the current conditions of the economy, complete with a list of economic problems and opportunities

Perhaps the most important elements of a CEDS are the goals and objectives necessary to solve the economic problems and a plan of action the commission will be able to implement allowing them to take advantage of available economic opportunities.

Why is a Community Economic Development Strategy Important?

Now, you might be asking why you would want to submit a CEDS to the Economic Development Administration (EDA) in the first place. The answer is simple; once the EDA has approved your CEDS and designated your area an Economic Development District it becomes eligible to receive federal funding for assistance with economic development initiatives that will be beneficial to your area. These funds can be used for projects designed to stimulate economic growth in the area. Often communities and planning commissions have great ideas but no money with which to implement them. Taking the time to develop a CEDS and getting it approved by the EDA is a great way to go about procuring grant monies so that new projects and ideas can move forward.

Getting Help from TEEX:

But what if your community or planning commission lacks the expertise to create a CEDS that meets the criteria of the EDA? Look no further than the Texas Engineering Extension Service. TEEX has helped many entities prepare CEDS for submission to the EDA. Let’s take a closer look at how TEEX helped the Permian Basin Regional Planning Commission develop a CEDS.

The Permian Basin & TEEX:

The Permian Basin Regional Planning Commission, or PBRPC, is made up of the following counties: Andrews, Borden, Crane, Dawson, Ector, Gaines, Glasscock, Howard, Loving, Martin, Midland, Pecos, Reeves, Terrell, Upton, Ward and Winkler. The Commission’s directors recognized the economic threats to the region and decided it was time to pool their resources and develop a regional plan for the area. Twelve of the counties in the PBRPC have a per capita income of less than 80% of the national average. Many of the communities are composed of individuals and families with a very low income who lack basic necessities such as safe housing and potable water. In addition, the Permian Basin’s economy has always been closely linked with the oil and gas industry and it is severely damaging to the regional economy when oil and gas prices drop across the globe. The PBRPC identified several issues that needed to be addressed, including: transportation, health care, water supply, social services, emergency preparedness and economic development. Naturally, many of the cities within the region already had local economic development plans, however, the PBRPC felt that a regional, formalized plan would be able to assist with the coordination of regional activities as well as provide the resources and technical skills to communities with limited resources.

The next step for the PBRPC was the actual development of a CEDS for submission to the EDA. In 2008, the United States Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (http://www.eda.gov/) awarded the PBRPC a grant to help defray the costs associated with producing a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. Because the government requirements for a CEDS are complex, the PBRPC decided to contract TEEX to assist them with developing a CEDS. TEEX is qualified to help communities or planning commissions develop CEDS as they have many years of experience.

Involving Stakeholders:

In order to determine the most salient economic development issues, the PBRPC and TEEX met with influential stakeholders from throughout the Permian Basin Region. These individuals included professors, economic development directors, workforce development professionals and key players in the petroleum industry. The end result was a community forum on October 17, 2008 at the University of Texas Permian Basin campus in Odessa. Over 150 stakeholders from the region were present at the meeting, representing a variety of entities, such as government, education, private business and community leaders.

During this meeting, stakeholders were allowed to participate in one of four brainstorming sessions where they analyzed the region’s opportunities and threats to economic development. During these sessions, goals and key strategies were identified that would help the region capitalize on opportunities and strengths and mitigate threats and weaknesses in regards to economic development. One of the qualifications for acceptance of a CEDS is that the CEDS must be made public. As such, the recommended strategy that came out of the meeting was posted on a website and made public to the citizens of the region so they, too, could have the opportunity to participate in the process.

Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy:

After seeking input from key stakeholders and the general public, the PBRPC adopted the vision statement, goals and objectives developed throughout the process. This information was presented in the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy for the Permian Basin. Upon its completion the CEDS contained a general description of the Permian Basin, including information on its geography and basic demographics. The document also housed an economic profile of the region with information on the economy, an overview of the workforce, the top industries and industry clusters, local assets, a regional analysis and a summary of the overall economic health of the region. Perhaps the most important part of the CEDS is the vision statement, goals, objectives and implementation plan. This portion of the document lines out the goals and plan of action that the Planning Commission will undertake in order to improve the regions economy. This section of the document was prepared in conjunction with TEEX to maximize the Planning Commissions efforts and includes specifics on education and workforce development, transportation and infrastructure, housing, industry diversification and regional marketing and outreach. Specifically the Permian Basin CEDS was designed to identify opportunities in the region for entrepreneurship, diversification of industry and improvements to the quality of life for even the regions lowest income population.

The CEDS was submitted to the Economic Development Administration in February of 2009. Unfortunately due to changes within the administration and stimulus package priorities, the CEDS has not been approved. However, the EDA has given feedback on the CEDS, stating that the report was very well done, comprehensive and covered all of the required areas. It is believed that once the administration is able to re-focus, the CEDS will be approved and the Permian Basin will be recognized as a certified Economic Development District.

Contact TEEX Today:

Interested in having TEEX help your region become a certified Economic Development District? Contact them today at:

www.teex.org/ted

About the Author: Alyssa Webb is the Communications Coordinator for AdventGX, an economic development and tourism consulting firm located in College Station, Texas. She is currently pursuing her graduate degree at Texas A&M University in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences with an emphasis on community event planning and tourism marketing. Alyssa can be reached via email at alyssawebb@adventgx.com.