CEDSStrategic Direction and Action Plan
Priority 5: Regional Collaboration and Implementation Capacity
Build stronger regional coordination, technical capacity, and implementation systems so communities can move priority projects forward more effectively.
Strategic Priority 5
Why This Priority Matters
The Regional Need
The region already contains significant expertise, leadership, institutions, and economic-development capacity. The challenge is not always a lack of organizations. It is often the need to connect their work more effectively. A successful CEDS depends on the ability of communities, counties, economic-development organizations, educational institutions, workforce partners, private employers, federal institutions, and state agencies to coordinate when appropriate.
Regional Goal
Build stronger regional coordination, technical capacity, and implementation systems so communities can move priority projects forward more effectively.
Regional Opportunities
Create Regular Regional Coordination
Regional partners should have structured opportunities to share:
- major projects
- funding opportunities
- workforce needs
- infrastructure priorities
- economic trends
- grant activity
- emerging risks; and
- potential collaboration opportunities.
Improve Project Readiness
Communities are more competitive for funding when projects are well developed.
Project readiness may require:
- preliminary engineering
- feasibility studies
- cost estimates
- site control
- environmental review
- public engagement
- match identification; and
- clearly documented regional impact.
Strengthen Grant Coordination
Many local governments and organizations are competing for limited funding.
Better regional coordination can help identify when communities should pursue funding independently and when collaboration may produce a stronger application.
Maintain a Regional Project Pipeline
The CEDS should become a living project-development tool rather than a document revisited only when an update is required.
A regional project pipeline can track:
- project status
- responsible organizations
- funding needs
- readiness
- next steps
- regional significance; and
- potential funding sources.
SNMEDD's Role
This priority aligns directly with SNMEDD's core regional function.
SNMEDD can:
- convene partners
- maintain the regional project pipeline
- provide technical assistance
- coordinate funding research
- support grant development
- track regional priorities
- facilitate communication; and
- help communities advance projects from concept toward implementation.
Measures of Progress
Potential measures include:
- regional meetings or coordination sessions
- projects added to or advanced through the regional pipeline
- technical-assistance engagements
- grants submitted and awarded
- collaborative applications
- project-readiness milestones completed; and
- partner participation.
Measurable Objectives
Recommended milestones from the start of the authorized work program.
First 90 Days
Agree on a common project-intake template and invite all five counties and Tribe-directed participation.
Month 6
Establish one regional project pipeline and complete an initial readiness review for each participating project.
Quarterly; First Annual Summary by Month 12
Hold quarterly partner reviews and publish one annual summary of milestones, barriers, and verified funding outcomes.
Planning connections: SNMEDD: Regional Plans and Data; SNMEDD: Infrastructure Capital Improvement Planning; EDA: Strategic Direction/Action Plan. Reviewed September 26, 2026.