Summit.nereta.org - April 27-29, 2016 Paul Raetsch Northeast Region Director for the Economic Development Administration (retired) Paul Raetsch began his career working for the Corps of Engineers, the Baltimore Regional Planning Council, and for a member of Congress. However, he spent most of his career with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration serving his last eight years as Regional Director of the Philadelphia Regional Office. EDA has been implementing economic development programs for forty-five years. The agency has been very popular, consistently receiving strong political support from congress and local elected officials. Before becoming EDA regional director, Paul served as the Chief of the Planning and New England Divisions. Under his leadership, the agency assisted in the development and implementation of many Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies. Technology-led initiatives, and workforce related projects in partnership with Economic Development Districts, colleges and universities, regional and local economic development organizations and non-profit development and training providers throughout the northeast United States. Paul began his career with EDA as an Economic Development Planner. From his first visit to an Economic Development District (the Mohawk Valley in New York) in 1971, when he witnessed 40 local elected officials cast aside partisan and local parochial issues to set regional economic development priorities, he has been a strong supporter of the CEDS process (At the time the process was named the Overall Economic Development Program, the OEDP). Paul retired in 2007. After retiring from the federal service he has been busy! He developed and managed a new unique scholarship program for members of the Guard and Reserves from the Delaware Valley and served as a member of the Board of Directors of three organizations: Northeast Pennsylvania Alliance (NEPA) (an Economic Development District), Workforce Wayne, and the Lakeland Colony Corporation, a Property Owners Association. He has also worked as an adjunct Professor of Political Science and Public Administration for various colleges and universities and has volunteered as a docent for the Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

1. GETTING YOUR WORKFORCE SYSTEM INVOLVED WITH EDA THROUGH THE
REGIONAL CEDS
Paul Raetsch
Retired EDA Regional Director
Talent Pipeline Strategic Alignment Summit
NERETA
April 29, 2016

2. Why should workforce developers care
about the EDA Mission?
• To lead the federal economic development
agenda by promoting innovation and
competitiveness, preparing American regions
for growth and success in the worldwide
economy.
Linden Pointe,
Hermitage, PA ETA/EDA

3. EDA Investment Programs FY 2016
• Public Works $100 M
• Economic Adjustment $ 35 M
• Planning $ 32 M
• University Centers $ 10 M
• Trade Adjustment Assistance $ 13 M
• Regional Innovation Strategies $ 20 M
• Coal Communities. $ 15 M
Tec Centro, Lancaster, PA

4. Eligible EDA Applicants:
• Economic Development
Districts
• States
• City and Local
Governments
• Indian Tribes
• Colleges and Universities
• Nonprofit Organizations
Possible collaborations? Bioprocess Technology Training
Center, UPR, Mayaquez

5. Secret to EDA Success?
Bottom Up Development
• Investments selected consistent with Comprehensive
Economic Development Strategy (CEDS)
• CEDS developed regionally
with broad-based local
involvement
• EDA responds to, rather than
dictates, local vision
• Federal dollars - local control
RESPOND, Camden, NJ

6. CEDS: A Guide to Prosperity
Purposes:
• To guide the economic growth of a region through an ongoing
economic development planning process
• To qualify the region for EDA
assistance
Northern Tier EDD (and a WIB),
Towanda, PA
https://www.eda.gov/ceds/

7. What is a CEDS?
What is a CEDS Supposed to Do?
What makes the CEDS Process Successful?
Philadelphia
Naval
Shipyard
BRAC

8. Summary Background;
SWOT Analysis;
Strategic Direction/Action Plan: The strategic direction and action plan
(Vision – Goal – Objectives). The action plan should also identify
projects and actions and the stakeholder(s) responsible for
implementation, timetables, and opportunities for the integrated use of
other local, state, and federal funds;
Evaluation Framework: Performance measures used to evaluate the
organization’s implementation of the CEDS and impact on the regional
economy.
Economic Resiliency
The Outline of the CEDS Report (according to 13CFR303.7)
Administration’s Job-Driven Training Checklist
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/skills_report.pdf)

9. How can economic development professionals get involved?
Strategy Committee: The Strategy Committee is the entity
identified by the Planning Organization as responsible for
developing, revising, or replacing the CEDS.
The Strategy Committee must represent the main economic
interests of the region.
The Strategy Committee should include:
• Public officials;
• Community leaders;
• Representatives of workforce development
boards;
• Representatives of institutions of higher education;
• Minority and labor groups.

10. Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said the new center is the result of a unique collaboration
that includes the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County and local unions
representing carpenters and electricians, along with Springfield Technical Community
College and the Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical Academy.

11. Vintage EDA

12. Getting prosperous means focusing on creating jobs with
higher wages and better working conditions, reducing
poverty and increasing economic opportunities for all of
the region’s citizens.
The New Economy Model: Getting Prosperous
The New Economy Model: Getting Better
Getting better means boosting the skills of the region’s
workforce, ensuring a technologically advanced
infrastructure, fast and responsive government, and
ensuring a high quality of life that will be attractive to
knowledge workers.
Alamo College, TX Technology Center Nash CC, NC Training Center

13. Regions that meet the challenges of the New
Economy focusing on innovation, learning, and
constant adaptation… will be the ones that
succeed and prosper.
Atlantic Cape CC, NJ, Aviation Technology Training Center

14. “Regionalism is an unnatural act among non-consenting
adults.” Al McGeehan, Mayor of Holland, Michigan
Collaborate. Leading Regional Innovation Clusters
THE COUNCIL ON COMPETITIVENESS 2010
In every successful case, there is a group of leaders who
coalesce around the common recognition that the old, locally
focused development strategies are not working and that
regional collaboration offers the best chance for success.
The ability to act like a region frequently requires building
temporary coalitions, but effective regional leadership requires
an ongoing intermediary organization to keep regionalism
alive.

15. Effective regional leadership can overcome the structural
disadvantages posed by program stovepipes, local economic
jealousy and competing political jurisdictions.
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Regional
Leadership
1. Be Proactive
2. Begin with the End in Mind
3. Seek First to Understand, then to Be
Understood
4. Put First Things First
5. Think Win-Win, Be Inclusive
6. Synergize
7. Sharpen the Saw
(TAKE THE ED DIRECTOR TO LUNCH, OR COFFEE????)

16. Knowledge
economy assets
Collaborative
institutions &
organizations
Regional
Mindset
Innovation and
Entrepreneurship
Regional
Growth
Strategic Planning for a Technology-Driven World
Collaborative Economics, 2002
The CEDS can be the glue that binds the collaborative institutions with a
regional mindset.

17. ATLANTA REGION
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee
401 West Peachtree Street, NW
Suite 1820
Atlanta, GA 30308-3510
404-730-3002
404-730-3025 fax
Philip Paradise, Regional Director
pparadise@da.doc.gov
DENVER REGION
Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska,
South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming
1244 Speer Boulevard
Suite 670
Denver, CO 80204-3591
303-844-4715
303-844-3968 fax
Robert Olson, Regional Director
rokson@eda.doc.gov
AUSTIN REGION
Arkansas, Louisiana,
New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas
327 Congress Avenue
Suite 200
Austin, TX 78701-4037
512-381-8144
512-381-8177 fax
Pedro R. Garza, Regional Director
pgarza@eda.doc.gov
PHILADELPHIA REGION
Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Puerto
Rico, Virgin Islands
Curtis Center, Suite 140 South
Independence Square West
Philadelphia, PA 19106-3821
215-597-4603
215-597-1063 fax
Willie Taylor, Regional Director
wtaylor@eda.doc.gov
CHICAGO REGION
Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin
111 North Canal Street
Suite 855
Chicago, IL 60606-7204
312-353-7706
312-353-8575 fax
Jeannette Tamayo Regional Director
jtamayo@eda.doc.gov
SEATTLE REGION
Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada,
Oregon, Washington, American Samoa,
Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Federated States of Micronesia,
Rep. of Marshall Islands, Rep. of Palau
Jackson Federal Building, Suite 1856
915 Second Avenue
Seattle, WA 8174-1001
206-220-7660
206-220-7669 fax
A. Leonard Smith, Regional Director
lsmith7@eda.doc.gov

19. "Well, in our country," said Alice, still panting a little, "you'd generally get to
somewhere else — if you run very fast for a long time, as we've been doing.“
"A slow sort of country!" said the Queen. "Now, here, you see, it takes all the
running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere
else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!" [1]

20. For more information on any step in the process of preparing a CEDS,
please contact your appropriate EDA regional office (see
http://www.eda.gov/contact/).