Community & Economic Development

Lessons from the Field: Economic Development District Designation 

So You Want To Be an EDD?

An Economic Development District (EDD) designation can be a great way to access federal funding opportunities and align your region’s economic development efforts. However, becoming an EDD presents unique challenges that require time, strong relationships, and the right organizational structure to overcome. NARC staff interviewed economic development planners across the country to understand the pros and cons of becoming an Economic Development District. 

In the process, staff spoke with Lauren Primiano of the State of Hawaii Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, who helped establish the nation’s first statewide EDD; Padmini Roy-Dixon of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC), who serves as her organization’s EDD Director and joined MORPC shortly after it received designation; Elizabeth Baxter of the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission (MVRPC), who leads the region’s CEDS implementation; and Gunnar Olson of the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (DMAMPO), who helped establish a standalone organization with EDD designation in his region. Their expertise and insights in the field of economic development planning shed light on what to consider when seeking EDD designation—and whether to pursue designation. 

What Is an EDD and Why Pursue It?

An Economic Development District is a regional designation granted by the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) to organizations that lead economic development planning across multiple jurisdictions. Additionally, obtaining EDD status makes the designated organization eligible for the EDA’s Partnership Planning grant to support the EDD’s operations. 

Along with this grant, organizations seek EDD designation to strengthen their relationship with EDA, unlock federal funding for non-distressed counties within the EDD region, and provide enhanced structure and collaboration for their region’s economic development efforts to attract investment and drive long-term growth. 

We realized that a lot of the challenges that people and businesses were facing could’ve been mitigated with better coordination across the counties.

— Lauren Primiano, State of Hawaii Office of Planning and Sustainable Development

Core Requirements for Designation

To qualify as an EDD, regional councils must represent more than one county, contain at least one sub-region that meets certain economic distress standards, and have an EDA-approved Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS). Additionally, a majority of counties within the proposed EDD boundaries must support the designation. You can search this map to see if your region meets EDA’s economic distress criteria and follow this link for more information about the process and steps to gain designation. 

Four Lessons Learned

1) Start with Relationships

Throughout our discussions, the most common piece of advice NARC staff heard was to focus on relationships. Having strong working relationships with your EDA representative, Congressional delegation, and Board of Directors will help your organization achieve EDD designation.  When applying for designation, your organization’s credibility as a convener can be the difference between swift approval and denied requests. A strong working relationship with the relevant local partners is critical to have before even applying for EDD designation. 

In addition, it’s equally if not more important to cultivate a relationship with your region’s EDA representative, who will not only guide you through the designation process but also keep you informed about unique funding opportunities for your region. Your EDA representative can introduce you to a network of EDA partners, keep your organization abreast of upcoming grants, and assist in getting your CEDS approved every five years. 

Having a strong relationship with EDA goes a long way.

— Padmini Roy-Dixon, Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC)

2) Tailor Your Message

While some regional stakeholders may be excited about EDD designation, others may be more hesitant. When making the case for your organization to be designated as an EDD, it’s important to address the specific priorities of each audience your organization needs approval from. Your governing board may be concerned about staff capacity, while counties in your region may focus on the equitable distribution of EDA funds. Tailoring your argument to each audience is key. Many regional councils also highlight the overall return on investment an EDD can deliver for all stakeholders. Analysis of EDA data shows that regions served by an EDD receive more than three times the per-capita investment compared to areas without an EDD. 

You’ve got to tailor your message to your audience... for us it was all about opening up the opportunity for federal dollars.

— Gunnar Olson, Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (DMAMPO)

3) Funding Realities

It’s important to assess your organization’s budget and staff capacity before pursuing EDD designation. EDA reporting requirements can be time-consuming, and the Partnership Planning grant provides about $70,000 annually in planning assistance. For many regions, that level of funding is insufficient to hire full-time staff or justify dedicating significant portions of existing staff time. To bridge the gap, some organizations raise member dues or develop revenue-generating programs, while others absorb the shortfall with the expectation that the long-term economic benefits will ultimately justify the investment. Whatever path you choose, EDD Partnership Planning funding is just one piece of the overall funding puzzle. 

Reporting is onerous… [and] most EDDs I have spoken with are trying to come up with programming that provides revenues.

— Padmini Roy-Dixon, Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC)

4) Alternative Paths & Strategic Decisions

Depending on the politics and priorities of stakeholders in your region, it may be more practical to prioritize CEDS planning over pursuing EDD designation. Some organizations encounter challenges when their regional council boundaries don’t align with the boundaries used for their CEDS. Others struggle to secure consistent support from all relevant municipalities. While having an EDD can increase funding from the EDA, the CEDS process still brings partners together and drives economic development planning in the region. As a result, some regional councils choose to focus solely on developing and maintaining their CEDS, while others have opted to spin off their EDD into a standalone entity to better navigate these complexities.

Our priority is the CEDS, not the designation.

— Elizabeth Baxter, Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission (MVRPC)

Final Thoughts

EDD designation can be an effective way for regions to strengthen economic development planning and secure a long-term partnership with the EDA. When pursuing EDD designation, it’s important for regional councils to start with relationships, particularly with their regional EDA representative. Next, regional councils should take into consideration the unique priorities of the approval-granting agencies and make arguments to address their concerns. Finally, it’s worth recognizing that EDD designation doesn’t guarantee transformational funding will flow to your region. However, if your regional partners and priorities are aligned, and with the help of the EDA, EDD designation can greatly improve your regions’ chances of securing economic investment for years to come. 

Additional Resources

Pioneer Valley Planning Commission’s Kim Robinson Testifies before the House Committee on Financial Services on CDBG Funding

Last Wednesday, the House Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance held a hearing on the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program and its impact on addressing local challenges. Kimberly Robinson, Executive Director of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) testified on behalf of the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC).  Robinson was joined by Joseph Jaroscak, an analyst in Economic Development Policy at the Congressional Research Service; George Mensah, Director of the Miami, Florida, Department of Housing and Community Development; San Francisco Mayor London Breed; and Salim Furth, a Senior Research Fellow at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center.

CDBG has long been a critical source of funding for local projects that address poverty and inequality, especially through economic development and infrastructure programs. Regional councils often help to organize these efforts by providing technical support to communities who seek CDBG funding. PVPC, for example, both applies for and administers CDBG grants for member communities, while also facilitating cooperation between members in order to increase the amount of funding received and improve its efficiency.

While CDBG remains successful in its ability to provide for lower- and middle-income communities, shortfalls in funding over the last two decades have hampered the program’s ability to confront the economic development needs of the communities it serves. Robinson emphasized this point in her testimony, pointing to how CDBG’s funding of $3.44 billion in FY2021 is nearly $1 billion less than it was in 2004. Further, she pointed out that if the original allocation from 1975 were adjusted for inflation, funding for CDBG would exceed $10 billion today.

In her testimony, Robinson also highlighted how, although 70 percent of federal CDBG funds are allocated to larger entitlement communities — defined as principal cities of Metropolitan Statistical Areas, other metropolitan cities with populations exceeding 50,000, and qualified urban counties with populations exceeding 200,000 — the remaining 30 percent allocated to states is still crucial to the development of smaller communities, and CDBG thus cannot be viewed as just a “big city” program. As an example, she pointed to how PVPC aided 19 different communities with CDBG funding in FY2019, despite having just four members that qualify as entitlement communities.

Following the testimonies, Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty (OH-3) asked about how CDBG helps support affordable housing. Robinson responded by articulating how, although the funding cannot be used to construct new housing, it allows PVPC to undergo rehabilitation projects that keep vulnerable people — especially the elderly — in their homes. Representatives from both parties, as well as several of the witnesses, agreed that CDBG funds should not be prevented from going toward new construction and that restrictive zoning barriers limiting their effectiveness should be lifted.

Broadly speaking, there was bipartisan momentum at the hearing toward reforming the formulas used in CDBG allocation. While Democrats, including Chairman Cleaver, praised the flexibility of CDBG and supported increasing its funding in addition to reforming allocations, Republicans seemed hesitant to spend more on the program. Overall, discussion at the hearing suggested an increase in funding for CDBG is unlikely. However, restructuring the program to better serve non-entitlement communities and contribute more to affordable housing, without compromising flexibility appears to be a more attainable goal for the subcommittee.

Treasury Department Provides Initial Guidance for the Distribution of $350 million in State and Local Aid

On Monday May 10, the U.S. Department of Treasury released guidance on the State and Local Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Fund (Recovery Fund), as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. Included in the guidance is the flexibility to use Recovery Funds to invest in broadband infrastructure, services and programs to contain and mitigate the spread of COVID-19, including capital investments in public facilities, investments in housing and neighborhoods and other guidance counties advocated for. The U.S. Treasury also opened a new web portal that state and local governments must use to receive Fiscal Recovery Funds.

HOW TO REQUEST FUNDING

Eligible state, territorial, metropolitan city, county, and Tribal governments may now request their allocation of Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds through the Treasury Submission Portal. Eligible local governments that are classified as non-entitlement towns, cities and counties – generally local governments with fewer than 50,000 residents — should expect to receive this funding through their state government — rather than Treasury and should not request funding through the Treasury Submission Portal.

Metropolitan city has the meaning given that term in section 102(a)(4) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5302(a)(4)) and includes cities that relinquish or defer their statues as a metropolitan city for purposes of receiving allocation under section 106of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5306) for fiscal year 2021.[1]

Nonprofit unit of local government means a “city,” as that term is defined in section 102(a)(5) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5302(a)(4)), that is not a metropolitan city.[2]

FUNDING AMOUNTS

Congress has allocated Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to tens of thousands of eligible state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments.  These allocations include:

Recipient:

Amount (Billions):

States & District of Columbia

$195.3

Counties

$65.1

Metropolitan Cities

$45.6

Tribal Governments

$20.0

Territories

$4.5

Non-Entitlement Units of Local Government

$19.5

 

DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDING

Local governments will receive funds in two tranches, with 50% provided beginning in May 2021 and the balance delivered approximately 12 months later. States that have experienced a net increase in the unemployment rate of more than 2 percentage points from February 2020 to their date of certification will receive their full allocation of funds in a single payment; other states will receive funds in two equal tranches. U.S. territories will receive a single payment. Tribal governments will receive two payments, with the first payment available in May and the second payment, based on employment data, to be delivered in June 2021.

Additional Information on Split Payments to State Governments

USE OF FUNDING

The Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds provide eligible state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments with significant funding to meet pandemic response needs and build a stronger, and more equitable economy as the country recovers. Recipients may use these funds to:

  • Support public health expenditures, by, for example, funding COVID-19 mitigation efforts, medical expenses, behavioral healthcare, and certain public health and safety staff;
  • Address negative economic impacts caused by the public health emergency, including economic harms to workers, households, small businesses, impacted industries, and the public sector;
  • Replace lost public sector revenue, using this funding to provide government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue experienced due to the pandemic;
  • Provide premium pay for essential workers, offering additional support to those who have and will bear the greatest health risks because of their service in critical infrastructure sectors; and
  • Invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure, making necessary investments to improve access to clean drinking water, support vital wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, and to expand access to broadband internet.

Within these overall categories, recipients have broad flexibility to decide how best to use this funding to meet the needs of their communities.

NARC will release more information on Treasury’s new guidance in the coming days.

______________

[1] Treasury Guidance. Interim Final Rule. Page 134

[2] Treasury Guidance. Interim Final Rule. Page 134

Support the FCC Emergency Broadband Benefit Program!

The National Association of Regional Councils (NARC) recently became an outreach partner for the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (EBBP). The Emergency Broadband Benefit is a program to help households struggling to pay for internet service during the pandemic. This new benefit will connect eligible households to jobs, critical healthcare services, and virtual classrooms. EBBP will provide a discount of up to $50 per month towards broadband service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for households on Tribal lands. Eligible households can also receive a one-time discount of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers if they contribute $10-$50 toward the purchase price. The Emergency Broadband Benefit is limited to one monthly service discount and one device discount per household.

Here are some answers to some of the most common questions about EBBP:

Who Is Eligible for the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program?

A household is eligible if one member of the household:

  • Receives benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch program or the school breakfast program, including through the US Department of Agriculture Community Eligibility Provision, or did so in the 2019-2020 school year;
  • Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year;
  • Experienced a substantial loss of income since February 29, 2020 and the household had a total income in 2020 below $99,000 for single filers and $198,000 for joint filers;
  • Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating providers’ existing low-income or COVID-19 program; or
  • Qualifies for the Lifeline program or participates in one of the following federal assistance programs:
    • Medicaid
    • Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
    • Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
    • Federal Public Housing Assistance
    • Veterans and Survivors Pension Benefit; or
    • A household’s income is at or below 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines for a household of that size.

How Do EBBP-Eligible Households Enroll?

If a household is already a Lifeline participant, they will not need to apply for EBBP or provide any new documents to prove eligibility. Applicants only need to opt-in to a plan provided by their current broadband provider or request enrollment in the program. Current Lifeline subscribers can keep their current Lifeline benefit while also adding a plan that is offered through the EBBP.  People who are not currently participating in Lifeline must apply for the EBBP through the National Lifeline Verifier.

When Can EBBP-Eligible Households Apply?

The FCC has not set a date for enrollment to begin. However, enrollment is expected to start by May 2021. The enrollment period is required to close six months after the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines that the pandemic emergency is over or when the $3.2 billion appropriated by Congress has been exhausted, whichever occurs first.

Who are Emergency Broadband Benefit Providers and Where can I Find them?

The FCC recently unveiled a downloadable data table consisting of all broadband providers who have elected to participate in EBBP. The list will be updated as more providers join the program. Individuals can search by state for fixed broadband services and mobile broadband services. Fixed broadband services are provided to your home, or a single location. These include cable, fiber optic, DSL, satellite, and fixed wireless services. Mobile broadband services are device-based and available throughout the service provider’s cellular coverage area, similar to cell phone services.

The National Association of Regional Councils will offer support and information to regional and local communities to help the FCC mobilize people and organizations and share important consumer information about the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program. To learn more about the FCC’s Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, please check out the resources provided by our national partners at the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) and Next Century Cities (NCC).

NARC Letter Concerning Potential MSA Changes

In response to a Federal Register notice that proposes to raise the population threshold for the designation of a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), NARC has submitted comment to the Office of Management and budget opposing the change. Comments on this notice are due by March 19, 2021. NARC members are encouraged to utilize this language for their own purposes if that is helpful for you.

Read the letter here.

NARC Analysis: American Rescue Plan

NARC Analysis: American Rescue Plan

Last week, President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 into law. The $1.9 trillion bill will provide additional relief to address the continued impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy, public health, state and local governments, individuals, and businesses. NARC has created a PowerPoint presentation that summarizes some of the major pieces of this new bill. Feel free to share with your colleagues and membership and reach out to the NARC staff if you have any questions about the legislation.

NARC / Urban Institute Webinar: Integrating Racial Equity in Regional Housing Policy

Register here
Webinar recording will be posted here

Please join the Urban Institute, in collaboration with NARC, for a timely presentation and discussion on integrating racial equity in regional housing policy. Throughout the presentation, participants will learn about policies that promote regional housing equity, see examples of promising work being done across the country, learn about Urban Institute data tools for decision making, and discuss how to unite diverse jurisdictions under one common equity-focused policy agenda.

Speakers: 

Monique King-Viehland
Monique King-Viehland is the director of State and Local Housing Policy at the Urban Institute. She leads efforts to catalyze Urban’s vast housing policy expertise into actionable strategies for, and with, state and local housing leaders. Her portfolio extends across Urban, encompassing a range of housing policy areas from homelessness and affordable housing to zoning reform, homeownership, and housing finance. King-Viehland previously served as executive director of the Los Angeles County Development Authority (LACDA) where she oversaw 580 employees and a budget of $600 million. She was the first woman and African American to take the helm of the 40-year-old agency. She led the agency through significant transformation, including the merger of the Community Development Commission and housing authority into one unified agency to augment cross-agency thinking and client service, increase organizational effectiveness, and reposition the agency as a forward-thinking, industry leader in the provision of housing, community, and economic development.

Gabriella Velasco
Gabriella Velasco is a policy assistant in the Research to Action Lab at the Urban Institute and a contributor to the Housing Matters Initiative. Before joining Urban, she worked with the sustainability program at the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife, providing research and project management support across the state. Velasco received a BA in sustainability studies, a BA in urban political ecology, and a minor in women’s and gender studies from the University of Texas at Austin.

Regional Councils Urge Congress to Include Relief for Transit in COVID-19 Stimulus Bill

Twenty-one NARC-member regional councils have written to congressional leadership requesting critical funding for transit agencies to maintain operations as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to strain their resources.

Click here to view the letter.

The agencies call for $32 Billion in emergency federal funds to be included in an upcoming stimulus package to be passed before the end of 2020. This figure has been identified by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) as what is needed to ensure that transit agencies “can survive and help our communities and the nation recover from the economic fallout of the pandemic.”

COVID-19 has caused massive drops in transit ridership and lost revenue has forced transit agencies across the country to consider service and personnel cuts. With relief funds from the CARES Act running out soon, transit agencies will be forced to make these proposed cuts and layoffs unless further funding is provided to cover the budget gaps created by this year’s lost revenues. 

In the letter, the agencies emphasize how important it will be to have a strong transportation network in order to recover from the shutdowns and other impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. They also highlight the danger presented by letting transit systems fail or face significant cutbacks; service and maintenance could take years to recover.