South Central Tennessee Development District has won an innovation award from the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) for its work in the establishment of the regional Communities Tomorrow group
Local leaders of four similar, contiguous counties involved with the South Central Tennessee Development District -- Hickman, Lewis, Perry, and Wayne Counties -- recognized the need for a regional collaboration to obtain maximum economic and social benefit and requested development of a strategic four-county plan. This effort, called Communities Tomorrow, is a process that sought local input to establish a vision of what these communities want to be and defines goals and initiates actions to make that vision a reality. The four counties developed a regional collaborative plan to address common issues. A strong emphasis was placed on effective partnering between local governments, businesses, organizations, and state and federal agencies in the planning and implementation process. Additionally, each county has developed a locally-based strategic plan that included the prioritization of goals and action items in response to identified problems and needs.
The plan was developed by a broad base of individuals from each county participating in several local and regional sessions facilitated in a collaborative effort by staff from the Regional Development Team consisting of: South Central Tennessee Development District, Tennessee Valley Authority, USDA Rural Development, South Central Workforce Board, Buffalo/Duck Resource Conservation and Development Council, and the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.
South Central Tennessee Development District, on behalf of its member counties and in conjunction with the Regional Development Team, applied for and received a Rural Business and Economic Grant (RBEG) from USDA Rural Development to assist the project with staff. As the grant applicant, SCTDD partnered with the regional Workforce Board to employ a full-time Communities Tomorrow Coordinator (CTC) with an office in the Workforce Board’s local Career Center in one of the effected counties. The Communities Tomorrow Coordinator will assist in the development and operation of an economic and community development program, help to implement the regional strategic plan, and assist individual counties and cities in implementing local strategic plans. In addition, the Communities Tomorrow Coordinator will provide services to the South Central Tennessee Workforce Board by visiting employers within the region to help develop and sustain existing businesses and industries and to ascertain the area’s training needs.~~~~~~
South Central Tennessee Development District has been selected to receive a regional GIS (Geographic Information System) advancement scholarship from ESRI, NADO Research Foundation, and the U.S. Economic Development Administration.
SCTDD prepared and submitted an application for the GIS advancement scholarship that was deemed meritorious of this award. The GIS advancement scholarship includes:
