CEDS Central: New Resources for Regional Planning

I’ve spent many years working with my colleagues at the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) supporting training and technical assistance for regions seeking to do a better job of strategic planning.  Much of this work is targeted to regions developing Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) reports that are a prerequisite for Federal funding from the US Economic Development Administration (EDA) and other agencies.  NADO and EDA house much of this material at their excellent CEDS Central website, which has tons of useful data and information.  And, it’s even better now—thanks to a new addition:  the CEDS Central Economic Development Lecture and Writing Series.  This is a series of issue briefs and online mini-lectures on key topics related to regional planning and the CEDS process.  The series includes ten issue briefs on critical topics such as regional resilience, rural development, housing, broadband, and tools for tracking wealth creation.  I’ve contributed a piece on how include community benchmarking in your regional planning efforts.  This was a fun project that provides great resources for economic developers and regional planners.  It’s well worth a visit!