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	Budget Justification Home / Delta Regional Authority Announces Delta Revitalization Through Innovation Pilot Program


Delta Regional Authority Announces Delta Revitalization Through Innovation Pilot Program September 8, 2023
				*Eight communities across the Delta region will participate in a year-long intensive as part of Delta Regional Authority’s new capacity-building program***Clarksdale, MS** – The Delta Regional Authority (DRA) has announced the Delta Revitalization through Innovation, Vision, and Equity (DRIVE) Pilot program in partnership with the University of Memphis (UofM) Division of Research and Innovation. The Pilot program was created to help distressed and underserved communities build capacity and drive community-centered economic growth in the Mississippi River Delta region. As identified in DRA’s Regional Development Plan IV, the DRIVE Pilot program is a fundamental component of DRA’s efforts to enhance sustainable and inclusive local placemaking and community capacity across its eight-state region.The DRIVE Pilot program is part of the Delta Regional Authority’s efforts to advance equity for communities that have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty,” said Federal Co-Chairman, Dr. Corey Wiggins. “It is our intent that this program will create support mechanisms and increase the economic development capacity for small, rural communities in our region.”Through an intensive year-long, cohort-based program, the DRIVE pilot program will bring together eight small towns to increase local capacity in economic and workforce development that will support long-term economic opportunity in rural communities. The participating towns include Eudora, Arkansas; Helena-West Helena, Arkansas; Osceola, Arkansas; Hazlehurst, Mississippi; Port Gibson, Mississippi; Tunica, Mississippi; Brownsville, Tennessee; and Whiteville, Tennessee.Additional information about the DRIVE Pilot program is available at DRIVE | University of Memphis DRIVE (drivequity.org).


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								Federal PartnersThe DRA was established in 2000 as a formal framework for joint Federal-State collaboration to promote and encourage the economic development of the lower Mississippi River and Alabama Black Belt regions. To fulfill this purpose, DRA invests in projects supporting transportation infrastructure, basic public infrastructure, workforce training, and business development. DRA works to create jobs, build communities, and improve the lives of those that reside in the region. DRA’s region encompasses 252 counties and parishes in parts of Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee.DRA’s enabling legislation dictates that at least 75% of DRA’s funds must be invested in economically distressed counties and parishes and isolated areas within non-distressed counties and parishes. In addition, half of DRA’s funds must support transportation infrastructure and basic public infrastructure.
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				Delta Regional Authority236 Sharkey Avenue, Suite 400Clarksdale, MS 38614(662) 624-8600» Staff Directory
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