# Presentation: 232724

## ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION

**Overview of Programs and Priorities**** **
**Ben Erulkar**
**Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce**
**for Economic Development**
**Friday, July 28, 2006**

## Economic Development Administration

**Mission:**
- 	To lead the federal economic development agenda by promoting innovation and competitiveness, preparing American regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy.
**Investment Focus:**
- Support long-term, coordinated and collaborative regional economic development approaches.
- Support innovation and competitiveness.
- Encourage entrepreneurship.
**	**

**Notes:**

EDA’s GOAL is to encourage private capital investment in the nation’s most economically distressed areas, thereby creating and retaining jobs.

## Investment Programs

**EDA’s 3 Key Investment Programs Help Communities and Regions:**
- Expand and upgrade physical infrastructure (Public Works).
- Design and implement strategies to diversify economies (Economic Adjustment).
- Learn from leading-edge economic development best practices (Technical Assistance).
**EDA Also Invests In:**
**Partnership Planning: **Support Economic Development Districts, Indian Tribes, and others with long-term planning efforts.
**Trade Adjustment Assistance: **Help manufacturers and producers affected by increased imports prepare and implement strategies to guide their economic recovery.

**Notes:**
Examples of Public Works investments include water and sewer lines, access roads, industrial parks, business incubators, broadband deployment, smart building construction, and other types of infrastructure projects that will support long-term economic expansion.

The Economic Adjustment program focuses on communities in transition, such as communities that have, or will experience sudden or severe economic dislocation from such things as plant or base closures, job out-migration, or disasters.  Within this program, EDA can offer a complete array of program tools – planning and other technical assistance to develop a strategy to restructure or realign the economic base, followed by implementation grants for necessary infrastructure, and revolving loans.  

EDA actively works with the Department of Labor and the communities to ensure an integrated approach for assistance – for example, EDA assistance is helping build the technology training centers necessary to ensure a pool of labor with the necessary skills required by the new industry being brought to revitalize the economy after a plant closure.

##  Investment Example

- EDA invested $6 million in a the city of Stockton, California in 2004 to help build the South Stockton industrial area, including this Intermodal facility. Total project costs were $9.5 million.
- The project area is home to 200 industrial companies employing 7,500 in emerging industry clusters that can reduce the area's dependence on agriculture.  Total private investment is expected to reach $848 Million.

## EDA Quick Facts

- Established 1965:
- LBJ’s War on Poverty

- 165 Total Employees

- Annual Investment Budget of $300 Million.
- $1.5 Billion Under Investment at Any Given Time.

- 6 Regional Offices

## Why EDA Investments Work

- EDA focuses its limited resources on proven, high-value, cutting-edge economic development activities and techniques promoted by academic and practitioner thought leaders.  This is responsible for the Bureau’s strong emphasis on **regionalism**, **innovation**, and **entrepreneurship **as the building blocks for successful economic development.
- EDA targets its investment assistance to **attract private capital investment** and **create higher-skill, higher-wage jobs** in those communities and regions that are suffering from **high levels of economic distress**.
- EDA investments are focused on **locally-developed, regionally-based economic development initiatives** that achieve the **highest return on the taxpayers’ investment** and that directly contribute to regional and national economic growth.

**Notes:**
EDA’s FOCUS is on outcomes and results.  We emphasize regionalism, innovation and entrepreneurship; and target areas of high economic distress.  Our intent is to help raise the economic bar, supporting the creation of higher-skill, higher-wage jobs.

## Investment Policy Guidelines

- Market-based and results driven.
- Have strong organizational leadership.
- Advance productivity, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
- Look beyond the immediate economic horizon, anticipate economic changes, and diversify the local and regional economy.
- Demonstrate a high degree of commitment.

- Investment proposals are competitively evaluated on whether they are:

**Notes:**
MARKET-BASED investments capitalize on a region’s competitive advantages and move regional economic indicators.
ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP includes having the expertise to effectively implement the investment.
PRODUCTIVITY, INNOVATION, AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP advancements include technology and university-led economic development efforts, as well as cluster-based economic development enhancements.
PROACTIVE economic development strategies are regional in nature, focus on the long-term, and anticipate changes.  They focus on enhancing existing and developing new economic clusters.
DEMONSTRATED COMMITMENT includes local government matching funds, private sector leverage, and broad cooperation among public and private sector partners.  

## Supplemental Funding Priorities

- •	Respond to sudden and severe economic dislocations (e.g., major layoffs and/or plant closures, disasters).
- •	Enable BRAC-impacted communities to transition from a military to civilian economy.
- •	Support the economic revitalization of brownfields.
- •	Advance the goals of linking historic preservation and economic development as outlined by Executive Order 13287, Preserve America.

- Additional consideration is given to investment proposals that:

## Economic Development Administration - Results

- Anticipated results from FY 2005 EDA Investments:
- Private investment of $31 will be generated for every EDA dollar invested.
- 125 thousand jobs will be created or retained.
- 97% of the Economic Development Districts and Indian tribes implemented projects from their CEDS that led to private investment and job creation.
- 88% of the actions taken by University Center clients achieved their expected results.
- 95% of the Trade Adjustment Assistance clients took remedial actions and 97% achieved the expected results.

## Economic Development Administration – ’06 Budget

**	****$250.7 Million**
**Public Works****	****	****	****$158.1 M**
**Planning****	****	****	****$  27.0 M**
**Technical Assistance****	****$    8.2 M**
**Economic Adjustment****	****$  44.1 M**
**Trade Adjustment****	****	****$  12.8 M**
**Research****	****	****	****$      .5 M**

**FY 2006 Economic Development Assistance **
**Programs (EDAP) Budget**

## Economic Development Administration – ’07 Budget Request

- For FY 2007, the President’s budget request calls for an increase of $47 million (total program budget: $297.5 million).
- The critical parameters of EDA’s program remain unchanged:
- Eligibility requirements unchanged.
- Portfolio of programs maintained.
- Focus on areas of economic distress unaltered.

## Economic Development Administration – ’07 Budget Request

- Changes to EDA’s Budget include:
- Greater emphasis on coordinated regional economic development approaches.
- Streamlined access to EDA’s most popular programs through a unified “Regional Development Account.”
- Promotion of the American Competitiveness Initiative through support of investments that advance competitiveness, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

## Economic Development Administration – ’07 Budget Request

## EDA & BRAC

- Since 1992, EDA has awarded*:
- $646 million;
- in 385 investments;
- in 113 counties;
- across 38 states
- affected by 103 base closures or realignments.
- *Primarily through supplemental appropriations.

- EDA has also received roughly:
- $274 million from the Department of Defense (DOD); and,
- $8 million from Department of Energy (DOE) appropriations for specially targeted defense adjustment projects.

- EDA’s role in Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) 2005 is governed by Executive Order 12788 establishing the Defense Economic Adjustment Program.  This E.O. serves as the coordinating mechanism for the federal government’s response to communities impacted by BRAC.
**EDA’s Role in Past BRAC Rounds**

**Notes:**
EDA serves as the Secretary of Commerce’s representative as Co-Vice Chair of the President’s Economic Adjustment Committee (together with the Department of Labor).  The Department of Defense chairs the Committee.

## EDA’s Legacy With BRAC Communities

- 	EDA’s Economic Adjustment Program is the Bureau’s primary tool to address BRAC.  It helps local redevelopment authorities to design and implement strategies to adjust or bring about change to the affected economy.
***Of the previous BRAC Rounds, 21 communities have enjoyed over 150% civilian jobs recovery rate; 20 of these did it with assistance from the Economic Development Administration.***

**Notes:**
To date, EDA has not received any supplemental appropriations to support BRAC 2005.  Affected installations, remain eligible under EDA’s regular program authorities.

## EDA & Disaster Assistance

- 	EDA supports post-disaster long-term economic recovery through emergency supplemental appropriations for specific disasters and normal program appropriations. Examples include:
**	****Fiscal Year****	****Disaster****	****	****	****	****	****Funding**
- 	1992		Hurricanes Andrew, Iniki, Typhoon Omar	$  70 M
- 	1993/94	Midwest Floods				  200 M
- 	1994		Northridge Earthquake			    91 M
- 	1994		Tropical Storm Alverto			    50 M
- 	1996		1996 Floods				    17 M
- 	1997	 	Hurricanes Fran and Hortense		    25 M
- 	1997		Upper Midwest Floods			    50 M
- 	1999		Alaska Fisheries				    15 M
- 	2000		Hurricane Floyd				    55 M
- 	2001		Alaska Fisheries/Norton Sound		    10 M
- 	2004		Florida Hurricanes			      4 M
- 	2006		Gulf Coast Hurricanes			    23 M

**Notes:**
EDA responds to natural disasters pursuant to the National Response Plan’s Emergency Support Function (ESF) #14 on Recovery and Long-term Recovery Assistance.

EXAMPLES
In response to the Florida Hurricanes of 2004, DOC/EDA used annual appropriated funds to award a $4 million dollar grant to the State of Florida to assist impacted communities in implementing economic recovery projects. 

In 2001, DOC/EDA invested $6.8 million in Somerset County, New Jersey for street improvements including the reconstruction of a traffic systems hard hit by flood waters caused by Hurricane Floyd.

## EDA & Brownfields

- EDA supports brownfield redevelopment activities through its existing economic development programs in the context of its long-term partnership with U.S. EPA.
- EDA’s goal is to return non-productive real estate assets to productive use – putting blighted, formerly contaminated land back on local tax roles and creating opportunities for capital investment and job creation.
- Last fiscal year, EDA invested $36.3 million in 31 brownfield redevelopment projects.

**Notes:**
If you think of brownfields redevelopment as a continuum (from assessment to cleanup to reuse), EPA focuses on the front-end or environmental aspects (i.e., assessment and cleanup), and EDA on the back-end or real estate development components of the transaction.

With the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimating over 450,000 sites nationwide (some estimates even higher, 1 million or more); brownfields present significant potential for redevelopment.  In fact, we’ve found that frequently, brownfield sites possess many competitive advantages including access to labor, transportation, infrastructure, and markets, or in real estate terms ‘location, location, location.’  

## Economic Development Administration

- Thank you!
- For more information on EDA, visit _[www.eda.gov](http://www.eda.gov/)_
- or call EDA Public Affairs at 202-482-4085