What IS Economic Development Integration?

Through EDI, EDA works in partnership with other federal agencies to implement policies and procedures that:

• Increase Access: Ensuring that local and regional applicants can easily identify and apply for the federal economic development resources that can best support their local priorities and objectives.
• Enhance Collaboration: Facilitating coordination among multiple partners and stakeholders (federal and non-federal, public and private) to promote multiple, strategic investments in support of local priorities that can contribute to sustainable economic growth, especially for distressed communities.
• Reduce Administrative Burdens: Working with federal interagency partners on guidance tools to help applicants navigate, and possibly consolidate different administrative requirements that are triggered by each individual award of federal assistance (e.g., strategic planning, reporting).

Through EDI, EDA seeks to promote ALL of the federal government’s various economic development resources, and to facilitate the capacity of local and regional stakeholders to invest these in dynamic, innovative projects that can produce new employment opportunities, business expansion, and regional prosperity. EDA implements this vision through:

• Cross-Agency Coordination (“Silo-Busting”)

  Silo-Busting

  One of the primary objectives of EDI is to facilitate interagency coordination in order to enhance support for economically distressed communities and regions. To meet this objective, EDI will work with various Federal agencies to identify, modify and remove bureaucratic barriers (“silos”) in order to effectively facilitate:

  • COMMUNICATION: Creating interagency networks and standard practices for consistent, ongoing dialogue and information-sharing about how various federal resources can be used to support local and regional economic development priorities.
  • COLLABORATION: Identifying and pursuing opportunities for combined interagency investments in local and regional projects.
  • OPTIMIZATION: Aligning strategic investments in multi-faceted economic development projects in order to maximize the number and overall impact of beneficial outcomes.
• Responsive Partnerships

  Responsive Partnerships

  Instead of a “Washington-knows-best” approach, EDA assistance is consistently awarded in support of locally-identified economic development strategies and priorities. Through EDI, EDA promotes this same approach in partnership with other federal programs. EDI “crowdsources” cross-agency expertise and other critical resources that are necessary for communities to implement effective, innovative solutions to locally-identified economic development needs. EDI policies, guidance materials and other tools can help potential applicants, as well as federal program staff, rapidly identify the economic development partners and resources (both federal and non-federal) that are best suited to a community’s specific economic development needs and priorities.

• Collaborative Investments, Optimized Outcomes

  Collaborative Investments, Optimized Outcomes

  In addition to integrating federal resource investments, EDI seeks to promote and facilitate federal collaboration with a variety of local and regional stakeholders, including, but not limited to:

  • Economic development organizations (including Economic Development Districts, or EDDs)
  • Units of government (state, local, and Tribal entities)
  • Statewide and regional planning organizations
  • Institutions of higher education, including University Centers
  • Business assistance centers, incubators, and accelerators
  • Labor unions, business and industry associations
  • Private investors and lending institutions
  • Philanthropic and nonprofit organizations
  • Supportive services and human services providers

  EDI prioritizes targeting Federal and other resources to projects and activities that can produce multiple beneficial outcomes, including:

  • Job Creation: The creation of new employment opportunities.
  • Marketable Skills: The creation of workforce development opportunities that are directly relevant to employment in high-demand industries that offer family-supporting wages.
  • Capital Investment: In addition to federal and other public sector investments, infusions of capital from private sector stakeholders who prioritize a monetary return on investment.
  • Regional Economic Resilience: The establishment of a healthy economic ecosystem that can generate sustainable economic growth, diversification, and prosperity.

  Through EDI, EDA is positioned to effectivity optimize the investment of multiple federal economic development resources (along with those from state and local sources), supporting multifaceted projects and generating diverse, innovative economies, sustained economic growth, and broad prosperity for communities across America.

How Can We Improve This Page? Let Us Know!

The EDI team is always looking for opportunities to update and improve the federal economic development resources featured on this page. Please help us make sure that the information we post is consistently useful to your organizations, communities and regions. If you have ideas or updated content you would like us to include here, please contact us at edi@eda.gov.