NADO.org » economic development

EDA Announces Funding for Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership

NADO Admin — Fri, 10 May 2013 19:26:30 +0000

The U.S. Economic Development Agency (EDA) announced funding for the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership grants. Successful projects will be regional in scope and focus on manufacturing sectors that demonstrate competitive advantages in the marketplace. Applications should emphasize public-private and higher education collaboration. Approximately 20-25 grants will be awarded (about 4 per EDA region) for up to $200,000 each with total funding for the program being around $4 million. The deadline for applications is June 13, 2013. Click here to view the grant summary and application. Click here to contact your EDA state representative for additional information. Click here to view the original press release.

Sen. Merkley Sends EDA Public Works Funding Support Letter to Appropriators

NADO Admin — Fri, 10 May 2013 19:22:15 +0000

NADO is pleased to announce that Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) along with three of his colleagues sent a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee asking their support for EDA’s Public Works program. Specifically, the letter requests the committee to fund the Public Works program at $129 million for FY2014. The Administration has proposed cutting the Public Works program to $40.5 million for next year, which would represent a 49% cut from last year’s funding level. Click here to view the full letter.

Cluster Mapping Webinar Now Available for Download

Brett Schwartz — Fri, 03 May 2013 13:04:03 +0000

The first in a series about various Data Tools developed with support from the Economic Development Administration, this webinar provided an overview of the U.S. Cluster Map and Registry which contains data on the regional clusters that are driving the national economy. Through this website practitioners can access key information on industries by location and type, in both data and chart format, which can be useful for developing a regional economic development strategy. The registry provides a forum for organizations to identify other entities by geographic area that are directly or indirectly working to advance regional cluster initiatives. It is a useful tool for identifying potential organizations to partner with to advance regional cluster initiatives. Economic development organizations, practitioners, policy makers, and other stakeholders are encouraged to watch to learn how this tool can be useful in your planning and decision-making processes.

The webinar was co-hosted by the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) and the Economic Development Administration (EDA). It is part of a series that will occur in 2013. Future webinars will address other EDA-funded data tools, including Stats America, Triple Bottom Line, Regional Innovation Accelerator Network (RIAN), and more. The NADO Research Foundation is coordinating the webinars as part of its Know Your Region program which is funded through an agreement with the U.S. Economic Development Administration (#99-06-07548).

Please contact NADO Deputy Executive Director Laurie Thompson at lthompson@nado.org if you have any questions about this webinar, or the series in general.

Click here to download the Powerpoint slides from the webinar

Upcoming Webinar: Building Vibrant Local Economies by Connecting Regional Food Systems

Kathy Nothstine — Wed, 01 May 2013 14:01:46 +0000

County and regional leaders are integrating food systems into economic development plans. These efforts are reinvigorating rural economies to foster economic development connected to local, agricultural economies. Join the National Association of Counties (NACo) for a free webinar, Building Vibrant Local Economies: Connecting Regional Food Systems, on Thursday, May 9, at 2pm EST to learn more about this topic.

Featured speakers include:

Ferd Hoefner, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
Bahia Nightengale, Heartland Local Food, with Supervisor Melvyn Houser, Pottawattamie County, Iowa
Elanor Starmer, USDA

This webinar is offered as a service to grantees of the federal government’s Sustainable Communities Initiative, NADO members, NACo members, and the broad community of individuals and organizations interested in regional food systems as a strategy for rural economic development.

For more information, contact Stephanie Osborn, sosborn@naco.org or 202.942.4235.

Southeast Region HUD Peer Exchange Materials (Greenville, SC)

Brett Schwartz — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:27:29 +0000

Wayne Leftwich, community planner with the City of Greenville, discusses the city’s neighborhoods during a tour of A.J. Whittenburg Elementary School.

On April 23-24, 2013 in Greenville, South Carolina, NADO hosted a Southeast Region Peer Exchange for HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning and Community Challenge Grantees working in rural or small metropolitan regions to develop plans and partnerships to bolster their communities’ economic competitiveness by engaging place-based strategies.

Through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the NADO Research Foundation is one 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 peer exchange materials, including presentations, worksheets, and grantee background information. If you have any questions about this peer exchange, these materials, or NADO’s work as a capacity building team, please contact Brett Schwartz.

Workshop Materials / Grantee Information

Growing Economic Competitiveness with Place-Based Strategies
Mary Douglas Hirsch, Downtown Development Manager, City of Greenville, SC

5×5 Presentations: Sharing What’s Working
Participant presentations

Building Local Leaders and Experts for Long-term Community Change
Linda Giltz, Senior Planner, Land-of-Sky Regional Council

Prospering as an Entrepreneurial Community
Don Macke, Director, Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

Collaborating with New Partners to Implement Community and Economic Development Plans
Participant discussion

Workshop Materials: Collaborating with New Partners to Implement Community and Economic Development Plans

Brett Schwartz — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:57:59 +0000

In this session, participants discussed innovative partnerships with state agencies, philanthropic organizations, and private-sector partners. Small group discussions covered opportunities to access new partners to implement plans and projects.

Click here to download the session worksheet (PDF)

Workshop Materials: Prospering as an Entrepreneurial Community

Brett Schwartz — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:53:04 +0000

In this presentation held in conjunction with the Economic Development Finance Conference, Don Macke, Director of the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, discussed an approach to economic development designed to help communities and regions grow more effective, efficient, and impactful systems of support for entrepreneurs as a way to strengthen local economies. Through hands-on exercises, participants identified and mapped out the components of their community’s current entrepreneurial development system, and strategized techniques for layering entrepreneurial support systems into community and economic development strategies.

Click here to download the Powerpoint presentation (PDF)
Click here to download the “Entrepreneurial Development Opportunities” worksheet (PDF)
Click here to download the “Entrepreneurial Development Systems” worksheet (PDF)
Click here to download the “Entrepreneur Exercise” worksheet (PDF)

Workshop Materials: Building Local Leaders and Experts for Long-Term Community Change

Brett Schwartz — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:27:40 +0000

Linda Giltz, Senior Planner at Land-of-Sky Regional Council discussed the North Carolina Small Towns Economic Prosperity Program (NC STEP), a state effort to help small towns reinvigorate their economies through a combination of coaching, training, technical assistance, and grants. Small group discussions covered coaching and training local partners to maintain momentum and implement projects over the long-term.

Click here to download the Powerpoint presentation (PDF)
Click here to download session worksheet (PDF)

Workshop Materials: 5×5 Grantee Presentations

Brett Schwartz — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:24:01 +0000

In this session, attendees had five minutes and five Powerpoint slides to describe key succeess with their project in this fast-paced series of short presentations.

Click here to download the Powerpoint presentations (PDF)

Workshop Materials: Growing Economic Competitiveness with Place-Based Strategies

Brett Schwartz — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:20:19 +0000

In this presentation, Mary Douglas Hirsch, Downtown Development Manager for the City of Greenville, discussed the city’s place-based investments that have established the downtown as a major economic force in the region. Greenville has been investing in its central business district since the 1970s and today is recognized as a model for downtown redevelopment planning. Through public-private partnerships with developers, community and faith groups, and other organizations, the City has made strategic place-based investments that have allowed the downtown to become a vibrant center home to restaurants, shops, businesses, and residential housing. These investments have benefitted the city as a whole by improving neighborhoods, making streetscape improvements, providing more retail and office space, and creating opportunities for larger economic development.

Click to download the Powerpoint presentation: Part 1 / Part 2 (PDF)