Region Unites to Pursue Federal Dollars
Posted byChris Thompson - 08.24.2010
In an unprecedented sign of regional collaboration, more than 20 public and private sector organizations have submitted on behalf of Northeast Ohio an application for a multi-million dollar regional planning grant under the federal government’s new Sustainable Communities Regional Planning initiative.
As the Council on Competitiveness recently noted in its "Collaborate" report, it is those regions that are able to act as a region that are best positioned to prosper in the growing global economy. This grant application is a sign that Northeast Ohio is increasingly able to act as a region to take advantage of an increasing number of federal programs designed to promote regional approaches to economic development.
“Regardless of the outcome of the grant application, more than 20 organizations from different sectors and different parts of our region have come together and made a commitment to long-range, regional planning. The active leadership from Akron, Cleveland, Youngstown and the many other cities and counties in the proposal development was inspirational. That type of regional commitment bodes well for our collective ability to build a more vibrant economic future for Northeast Ohio,” said Brad Whitehead, president of the Fund for Our Economic Future.
The Fund and several of its member foundations convened the consortium of regional stakeholders to apply for the grant. The consortium is called the Northeast Ohio Consortium for a Regional Plan for Sustainable Development and it includes four metropolitan planning organizations, six county governments, five city governments and educational and nonprofit institutions from across Northeast Ohio. This marks the first time that all of the organizations involved have applied jointly for a federal grant.
The new federal initiative will provide as much as $5 million to pay for cooperative regional planning efforts that integrate housing, transportation, environmental impact and economic development. The federal initiative is being managed jointly by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation.
The application was formally submitted by the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA), the metropolitan planning organization (MPO) that serves five counties in Northeast Ohio. The other MPOs participating in the consortium serve seven additional counties in Northeast Ohio. The Fund, a collaboration of philanthropy in Northeast Ohio, contributed $25,000 to help pay for the grant application process.
The regional consortium expects to learn if it will receive a planning grant later this year.
Read the full news release.
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