Reference — CEDS Framework

About the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy

A CEDS is a locally driven, regionally owned strategy that provides the roadmap for economic growth and resilience. It is developed through a broad-based public planning process and maintained by the region, not by the federal government.

Purpose

Why the region maintains a CEDS

The U.S. Economic Development Administration describes the CEDS as the result of a regionally owned planning process designed to build capacity and guide the economic prosperity and resilience of an area. It analyzes the regional economy, sets priorities, and identifies the projects and partnerships that will move those priorities forward.

It also has a practical function. An EDA-approved CEDS is generally a prerequisite for consideration under EDA's public works and economic adjustment assistance investment programs, and an approved CEDS is one of the statutory criteria for designation as an Economic Development District. The Permian Basin Regional Planning Commission serves as the EDD for its 17-county service area.

Beyond federal eligibility, the CEDS gives cities, counties, economic development corporations, workforce partners and utilities a shared set of facts and priorities — which is why this site also publishes the underlying economic profile and a library of every local plan we can find.

Required Components

The five things every CEDS must contain

Summary Background

A profile of the regional economy — population, labor force, industry composition, income and poverty, education, infrastructure, housing and broadband — that establishes the conditions the strategy responds to. This site's Economic Profile page carries that analysis.

SWOT Analysis

An analysis of regional strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, drawn from the data in the Summary Background and from stakeholder input. The SWOT is the bridge between evidence and strategy.

Strategic Direction and Action Plan

The vision, goals, objectives and specific actions the region will pursue, including who leads each action, the timeline, and the investment priorities that EDA and other funders can act on.

Evaluation Framework

Performance measures that let the region judge whether the strategy is working, and a schedule for reporting progress so the CEDS stays an operating document rather than a shelf document.

Economic Resilience

How the region will plan for, withstand and recover from economic shocks — commodity price cycles, plant or facility closures, drought and severe weather — through steady-state and responsive measures.

Broad-based public engagement

Not a numbered section, but a requirement that runs through all of them. The strategy must be developed with participation from the public and private sectors, including workforce, education, and community organizations across the region.

Cycle

Updated every five years, reported every year

1
Full update — five-year cycle
EDA requires a full CEDS update at least every five years. The update revisits the economic profile, refreshes the SWOT, and resets goals and investment priorities.
2
Annual performance report
In the intervening years the district submits an annual report summarizing progress against the evaluation framework, changes in regional conditions, and adjustments to the action plan.
3
Continuous engagement
A CEDS committee representing the region's main economic interests oversees the strategy between updates and keeps it connected to local plans and projects.

Sources