North Delta Regional Planning and Development District is a nonprofit cooperation and operates under its Board of Directors in cooperation with many state and federal agencies whose programs are designed to eliminate economic distress. We are located in Northeast Louisiana bounded on the east side of State of Mississippi and north of the State of Arkansas. This area is known as the ArkLaMiss. Our parishes we cover are Caldwell, East Carroll, Franklin, Jackson, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland, Tensas, Union, and West Carroll. 

Our goals for economic diversification of Northeast Louisiana are to unite the region to attract and expand industry and entrepreneurship throughout our region. North Delta also seeks to promote the construction of new infrastructure and the renewal of existing infrastructure through collaborative efforts with state and local governments. Our objectives for economic diversification in Northeast Louisiana are to assist small communities in implementing strategies that attract and grow businesses in the targeted area. We achieve this by promoting initiatives and businesses that foster growth in export industries that add value to the district.  

We have a desire for Infrastructure renewal and rehabilitation in all communities. We like to coordinate the application process for state and federal grants that provide improvements in Infrastructure. We help to develop plans that create economic resilience by preparing our region for economic and natural disasters. We assist business leaders to develop a plan to diversify the local regional economy. We encourage communities to take full advantage of the internet and promote the development of knowledge based economic clusters that are less impacted by natural disasters. 

North Delta takes a proactive role in promoting the development of leadership and cooperative planning among the political and economic development officials in the district.  We promote the provision of needed workforce development and training to workforce officials and education leaders. 

We utilize the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) to help respond to economic disruptions. The CEDS helps identify economic challenges within the region and encourage collaboration to react to the problem areas.  Additionally, the CEDS is the vehicle to approach resiliency in a comprehensive fashion.  It often fills a vital role in ensuring that disaster mitigation efforts are well coordinated across parish lines to shape more resilient communities/regions. 

In conclusion, North Delta is proactive in planning in order to provide the communities with the information to apply for EDA grants to better their communities. 

Some of the data from the parishes we serve are as follows: 

Parish                          Population                   Employment Rate

Caldwell                     9,645                           41.2%

East Carroll                 7,459                           28.5%

Franklin                       19,774                         43.6%

Jackson                       15,031                         40.5%

Madison                      10,017                         38.5%

Morehouse                  25,629                         46.4%

Ouachita                     160, 368                      55.8%

Richland                     20,043                         47.8%

Tensas                         4,147                           35.6%

Union                          21,107                         47.0%

West Carroll                9,751                           46.3%

Information from www.data.census.gov

The table is evidence that our parishes are on distressed and persistent poverty levels that need lots of attention. These are areas that have been living in poverty for an extended period. The households experience a relatively low income, and jobs are scarce in these areas. The industries will not build in these towns or villages, because they know it will be a struggle to keep them afloat. We try to make sure the parishes know we are here to help them in any way we can. North Delta Regional Planning and Development District is staffed by nine professionals of varying backgrounds, including planning, economic development, highway safety, public administration, and finance.