Through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the NADO Research Foundation and Envision Utah are two of eight teams providing capacity building and technical assistance to HUD and EPA sustainable communities award recipients.  The capacity building teams are forming networks among the grantees to exchange ideas on successful strategies, lessons learned, and emerging tools for community and economic development.

Below are links to the workshop materials, including presentations, worksheets, and grantee background information.  If you have any questions about this workshop, these materials, or NADO’s work as a capacity building team, please contact Brett Schwartz.

Workshop Background Materials

Opening Plenary:  Regional Visioning Based on Shared Values
Robert Grow, President/Chief Executive Officer, Envision Utah 

Finding and Leveraging Competitive Advantage 
Nora Johnson, Policy Fellow, US EPA Office of Sustainable Communities
Kathy Nothstine, Associate Director, NADO 

Scenarios Planning 101 and Part 2
Christie Oostema, Planning Director, Envision Utah
Jay Baker, Countywide Planner, Cache County, Utah
Lori Haddock, Economic development professional, Bear Lake County, Idaho
Mitch Poulsen, Executive Director, Bear Lake Regional Commission

Rural Poverty and Equitable Development 
Danielle Bergstrom, Program Associate, PolicyLink
Bill Vanderwall, Capacity Building Manager, Minnesota Housing Partnership

Keynote Address:  Progress and Challenges in Place-Based Rural Policies
Chuck Fluharty, President/CEO, Rural Policy Research Institute 

Best Practices in Creating Strong Regional Economic Development Strategies
Brian Kelsey, Director of Economic Development, NADO 

Implementing a Regional Plan as an Over-arching Economic Development Strategy: Focus on Implementation Strategies and Toolkit
Christie Oostema, Planning Director, Envision Utah
Dave Conine, USDA Rural Development

Additional Materials/Links 
Sonoran Institute’s About Town research and report 
California Financial Opportunities Roundtable (CalFOR) Guidebook 

On November 13, 2012, the National Association of Counties (NACo) presented a webinar in partnership with NADO Research Foundation that discussed strategies to engage elected officials and other community leaders in community planning projects. This webinar featured innovative strategies from regional planning projects and a “clinic” to critique outreach materials submitted by a select number of HUD 2010/2011 sustainability grants recipients.  Speakers included Elisa Ortiz, Smart Growth America; Bethany Wilcoxon, Des Moines Area MPO (Iowa); and Carol Davis, New River Valley Planning District Commission (Virginia).

View the webinar recording here. For more information, contact Cindy Wasser at NACo at cwasser@naco.org or 202.942.4274.

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This webinar was produced by NACo, through a subcontract agreement with NADO Research Foundation. NADO Research Foundation provided overall guidance and project direction. The work that provided the basis for this webinar was supported by funding under an award with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The substance and findings of the work are dedicated to the public. The author and publisher are solely responsible for the accuracy of the statements and interpretations contained in this publication. Such interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views of the Government.