Tina Warner is serving as the Nation’s Economic Development Director and will be working on the deliverables as agreed in the Ho-Chunk Nation’s application for the US Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration grant. That grant will help the Nation develop the CEDS.
The Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) contributes to effective economic development in America’s communities and regions through a locally-based, regionally-driven economic development planning process. It is a key component in establishing and maintaining a robust economic ecosystem by helping to build regional capacity (through hard and soft infrastructure) that contributes to individual, firm, and community success
This document provides recommendations on what should be included in each of the sections required by EDA’s regulations, and suggests tools, resources, and examples to help in each section’s development. As a collection of tools and examples, it is intended to be aspirational in nature and should not be construed as additional requirements. This guidance stresses the importance of linking the sections (e.g., using background information that is relevant to the SWOT) to improve the CEDS focus and impact. Moreover, the guide emphasizes strategic approaches based on regional visioning, goals, measurable objectives, and prioritized actions – rather than the CEDS serving as an inventory of programs and projects already in process in regions.
In addition, this guidance underscores the need to think beyond traditional job creation and embrace capacity building and broad-based wealth creation when developing goals, measurable objectives, actions, and performance measures. It also highlights the need to undertake an asset-based approach (i.e., efforts that focus on the strengths of a community or region) while considering the interdependencies between regional economic prosperity and other topics such as job-driven workforce development, natural resource management and development and sustainable land use. Finally, this guidance provides practical recommendations about formatting a CEDS that will result in an engaging, technically-sound strategy for guiding regional development.
