Berkshire Regional Planning Commission Gets Economic Development District Designation
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — After years of anticipation, Berkshire Regional Planning Commission's request for the county to be designated as an Economic Development District (EDD) was approved by the U.S. Economic Development Administration.
With this designation, the planners will be able to address activities and priorities outlined in the Berkshire Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) that identifies goals and priorities, strategies, and actions for the region.
A five-year economic strategy was certified in 2017 and another will be created this year.
The 2017-2022 strategy has six broad goals and objectives: talent and workforce; entrepreneurship and innovation; infrastructure, site readiness, and transportation; collaboration; industry and occupational clusters; and economic resiliency.
Executive Director Thomas Matusko announced the approval at BRPC's executive meeting on Thursday as "a big deal."
"We started working on this in 2011 with our very first draft, except it sat dormant for a number of years, but then we resuscitated it back, I think, in 2018 or 2019," he said.
"We were told that when we submitted the second application that it would be a two-year process, and it came in just a little bit longer than two years, I guess with COVID that's not so bad."
Matusko explained that the designation will improve access to financial resources for staff to work on economic development activities and will also allow more communities to apply for EDA grants.
The EDD includes all municipalities in Berkshire County. According to BRPC's website, it "recognizes the region's demonstrated enthusiasm and competence in partnering with EDA to pursue the mutually held goals of regionally collaborative economic development work and innovation-driven economic growth."
The designation is also meant to aid communities in economic success, providing increased access to regional economic development funds and public works assistance grants.
EDD requirements include the region meeting a geographic size and having at least one economically distressed area. A designated region must also have an EDA-approved CEDS and must have support from its communities, which was received.
"Hopefully it's a way to bring more resources into Berkshire County," Matusko said.
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