Preparation for the 2022 – 2027 Centralina Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy

The Centralina Economic Development District (EDD) is delineated as North Carolina Council of Government Region F and designated by the Economic Development Administration (EDA) as the approved EDD for the region. The Centralina EDD exists as a 501(c)3 public-private entity to empower local communities by preparing and implementing U.S. Department of Commerce and EDA strategic plans and grant applications to promote a diversified and innovative regional economic base, advocate sustainable growth and support jobs development through expansion, retention and recruitment of business and industry. The Centralina EDD is also responsible for developing and maintaining the regional Centralina Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) and administering the district. The CEDS is a strategy-driven plan developed by a diverse workgroup of local representatives from private, public, workforce, education and nonprofit sectors.

The current 2017-2022 CEDS is titled, “Prosperity for Greater Charlotte.” In the 2022-2027 update to the CEDS, the EDA introduced a new requirement for economic resilience, an area’s ability to prevent, withstand and quickly recover from major disruptions. The requirement promotes planning for implementing resilience and establishing information networks. The CEDS economic resilience component supports a stronger and more resilient Centralina region.

As part of the 2022 Centralina Workplan, Centralina staff have been busy preparing for the CEDS update with the following two projects: the Regional Resilience Collaborative and the Targeted Industry Clusters Resiliency Update. The Regional Resilience Collaborative project aims to investigate the landscape of local emergency response resources and capabilities, document local emergency management strengths and opportunities, support coordination for regional recovery strategies and establish a tangible recovery planning process based on local needs. The project also works to develop a regional disaster recovery and equity GIS web interface. The Targeted Industry Clusters Resiliency Update project seeks to update the current CEDS targeted industry clusters, examine supply chain disruptions within strategic industry clusters, assess requirements for future resiliency and analyze artificial intelligence (AI) and technological workforce impacts. Both projects are scheduled to be completed by the end of the 2021 calendar year, just in time to support the upcoming 2022-2027 CEDS.

Stay tuned – the conversation to gather input in support of the CEDS update and the 2022 Centralina Workplan goals and strategies with our stakeholders starts this fall. These Centralina initiatives purposely align to ensure regional prosperity.