Connecticut
| Program | # of Grants | EDA Funds |
|---|---|---|
Technical Assistance |
1 |
$116,667 |
Planning |
4 |
$285,176 |
| Grand Total | 5 |
$401,843 |
The Capital Region Council of Governments (CRCOG) was awarded $125,176 in EDA Short-Term Planning funding to develop a 38 municipality CEDS for the Capital Region of Connecticut. As a result of a State-led redistricting of the Connecticut planning organizations, the Capital Region will be comprised of three existing regional planning regions: Metro Hartford Alliance (30 municipalities), Central Connecticut EDA EDD (4 municipalities), and Northeastern Connecticut Economic Development Partnership (4 municipalities). The CRCOG had obtained appropriate authorizations from the Commissioner of the CT Department of Economic and Community Development (CT-DECD) and the Secretary of the CT Office of Policy and Management (CT-OPM) to establish itself as the Regional Economic Development District (REDD) for the Capitol Planning Region. Under Connecticut law, a REDD is the entity authorized to prepare a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) within each of the State’s nine planning regions. Both the MetroHartford Alliance and Central CT Economic Development Alliance have submitted letters of support for CRCOG’s role in preparing the CEDS for the expanded region. The CRCOG-prepared CEDS is expected to supersede the current MetroHartford CEDS and the Central Connecticut CEDS.
As a result of a 2014 State-led redistricting of the State of Connecticut’s Economic Development District boundaries, the Capital region will expand from 30 to 38 municipalities, bringing an additional 200,000 people to the region. The Central CT EDD, which is the only EDA EDD in the region, will cease to exist if the CRCOG is designated as an EDA EDD.
The 38 municipality CEDS will create a new vision for the growing region in a changing economy. The completion of the CEDS will enable CRCOG to request EDA EDD designation in the Spring of 2018 and allow the State of Connecticut to officially dissolve the Central Connecticut EDD (EDA EDD). The completed CEDS for the Capital Region will replace the existing Central Connecticut and Metro Hartford EDA approved CEDS.