he National Association of Development Organization’s (NADO) Research Foundation’s Economic Development District Community of Practice (EDD CoP) recently launched an online resource called “Solving the Housing Puzzle: EDDs as Regional Housing Changemakers.” The report, which outlines the critical housing work carried out by development organizations to best meet various community needs across the country, includes various case studies, and we’re honored to say that Centralina’s work was highlighted as apart of a best practice case study, titled “Turning Voices into Action in the Centralina Region.”

Centralina Community Economic Development team recently collaborated with the Town of Matthews on a sidewalk extension project near their popular downtown district. Allocated funding provided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant Program, allowed Centralina to work with the town to improve sidewalk infrastructure in order to provide a safe and accessible pathway for residents to access nearby local services.

This year marks the 55th anniversary of the founding of Centralina Regional Council, formerly known as Centralina Council of Governments. Over the last five and a half decades, our organization has helped support the growth and prosperity of our region through various projects and initiatives. In honor of this historic year, we’re looking back at how our organization has evolved to where it is today.  

Gaston College has been awarded a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration to further solidify its presence as a leader in textile innovation and technology advancement. The purpose of the grant is to leverage assets and increase the capabilities of the Fiber Innovation Center. 

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Housing Affordability Strategy data estimated that in 2022, 33% of households in Statesville have at least one of four housing problems: incomplete kitchen facilities, incomplete plumbing facilities, more than one person per room and are considered housing cost burdened. After hearing from residents, Darbah Skaf, CEO of Statesville Housing Authority (SHA) and its nonprofit affiliate, Iredell/Statesville Community Enrichment Corporation (ISCEC) began brainstorming ideas for an event that could gather community members and service providers to address these issues. With collaboration among SHA, ISCEC, the City of Statesville and Centralina, Darbah’s ideas were brought to life in the form of Statesville Thrives on June 29th, 2023.

Centralina Regional Council is a regional organization focused on addressing the needs of member communities in our nine-county area and working collaboratively on issues that impact our region. We examine national, state and local trends impacting our member governments and identify their potential impacts to determine best practices for meeting needs and addressing challenges. This brief dives into current regional trends and how they are currently being addressed by Centralina, as well as how they will continue to be addressed in upcoming years.

The region’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) is a five-year strategy that guides priorities for economic development and outlines a coordinated growth approach that builds on the region’s strengths, addresses barriers to future growth, prioritizes key regional industry clusters and emphasizes collaboration.

Most communities in our region do not have the need or financial resources for full-time code enforcement staff. To help support these local governments, Centralina offers on-call staff from the Centralina Community Economic Development (CED) department. Read how our team recently helped the Town of Weddington handled a recent violation and learn more about how CED can help your community enforce code compliance.

The month of April is National Fair Housing Month and National County Government Month. There is no better time than now to celebrate Union County and its initiatives to further fair and affordable housing in their jurisdiction! 

Access to affordable housing is essential to cultivating healthy, equitable and prosperous communities. The lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, changes in the national economy, population growth and other factors have increased housing prices and rental rates and decreased the supply of housing units that are affordable for low- and middle-income households. A recent Centralina Learns session’s panel shared insights and identified opportunities for addressing the affordable housing crisis and the missing middle.