Southwest Missouri regains economic development district

After nearly four years of work and funding and cooperation from the city and Southwest Missouri State University representatives from the Southwest Missouri Council of Governments are now realizing the fruits of their labor to reestablish an economic development district in southwest Missouri.

Congressman Roy Blunt last month informed the council that the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration approved its plan for such a district. The district, which comprises Greene, Barry, Christian, Dade, Dallas, Lawrence, Stone and Taney counties, makes communities in those counties eligible to receive federal grant money to bring infrastructure and technical assistance to economic development projects that create new jobs and opportunities, according to a release from Blunt's office.

"EDA has a number of programs, both funding programs as well as technical assistance programs, available to assist distressed areas ... we have not seen EDA funds available in southwest Missouri in more than 20 years because the area had not met the planning requirements," said Diane May, executive director of the Southwest Missouri Council of Governments. "... It was not just a question of asking for the designation we had to come together as a region and develop a comprehensive economic development strategy."

May said the EDA encouraged the council to pursue a plan for an economic development district for the southwest Missouri region because it was one of the few areas of the state that did not have a district. The EDA also gave the council a small grant to get the process started, she said.

She said the council spent a substantial amount of time encouraging the eight counties to participate. When the counties agreed, the council then enlisted the aid of citizens from the various counties to serve on an advisory committee.

"We developed a series of goals for the region as well as the action strategy for what could be done to encourage the economic development of the region. That took about a year and a half and was submitted, along with a formal application, to the EDA for review. That was two years ago, and we got the designation in October," May said.

EDA grants usually fund infrastructure development, capacity building and business development to help communities alleviate conditions of substantial and persistent unemployment and underemployment in economically distressed areas and regions, according to a fact sheet from the administration.

The administration also invests in communities faced with declining natural resources, such as fishing communities in the Northeast, as well as timber and salmon areas in the Pacific Northwest and Appalachian coal communities. EDA also supports the redevelopment of brownfield sites and the development of eco-industrial parks, as well as provides assistance to areas declared disaster areas by the president. Since 1965, the EDA has invested more than $16 billion in grants to communities in its districts.

May said while the Springfield area has a low unemployment rate, there are areas in the region with pockets of unemployment and poverty that will benefit from the designation.

"We have areas of underemployment, which now is a new eligibility criterion for EDA programs. We'd like to see the tools that are available to other areas also available to southwest Missouri," May said.

She said southwest Missouri had an economic development district in the early '70s but it fell apart because it was not maintained.

"It's not just a question of getting a plan, then placing it on a shelf and forgetting about it. You have to have an organization that keeps the effort going to update the plan. The previous council of governments was also disbanded soon after that," May said.

She said the Southwest Missouri Council of Governments was reestablished about 10 years ago, and recently moved into new offices at 110-111 Park Central Square.