West Texas Economic Development District

 The West Texas Economic Development District is the designated economic development district for the 6-county Upper Rio Grande State Planning Region; these counties include Brewster, Culberson, El Paso, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, and Presidio County. The District’s key functions include:

The Rio Grande Council of Governments (RGCOG) provides administrative and operational staff support for the District.  The RGCOG is dictated by the District's Board of Directors, which is composed of individuals representing various governments and Independent School Districts.  The Board of Directors meets monthly.  The WTEDD was incorporated in the State of Texas as a non-profit corporation on February 3, 1989.  Through a planning grant from the EDA, the RGCOG staff was able to establish the District.  The EDA officially designated the WTEDD as an Economic Development District (EDD) in January 1991, and the District became an IRS 501(c)(3) in 1993.

Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy

The Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy is a plan that emerges from a broad-based continuous planning process addressing the economic opportunities and constraints of a region.  It is the primary tool used by all Economic Development Districts in order to ensure that there will be economic prosperity for their region  The Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (called the CEDS) initiative was established by the Economic Development Administration Reform Act of 1998, as amended by the Public Works and Economic Development Act of  1965.The purpose of the CEDS is to establish a process that will help create jobs, foster more stable and diversified economies, and improve liviing conditions.  The CEDS accomplishes this by:

The District’s staff under the guidance of its Board of Directors facilitated the 2000 WTEDD CEDS. In accordance with the CEDS guidelines, the WTEDD CEDS is divided into the following sections.  

Download the latest copy of the Comprehensive Economic Strategy.

State of the Region

This section includes an analysis of the region’s current economy.  Identifying strengths and weaknesses, growth sectors and clusters, what is driving the economy and where is it heading.

Vision and Goals

This section should answer these questions: 1) Where do we want to be in the next ten to twenty years?  2) What are the goals for the areas in which the region can build competitive advantage? 3) How can the region’s strengths and opportunities be maximized, and its weaknesses and threats mitigated?

 Evaluation Plan

The evaluation plan should be an element of an ongoing planning process and should answer the questions “How are we doing?” and “What can we do better?” The District will use performance measures to evaluate its action plan and its goals.  The CEDS is a document that is constantly evolving.  The WTEDD staff welcomes any comments or suggestions that will make this document be an effective economic development tool for the prosperity of the region.

Action Plan

The action plan answers the question “How do we get there?” and is based primarily on long-term goals. The action plan describes activities and groups them into programs designed to achieve the desired results and to turn potential for improvement into reality. The action plan also assigns responsibility, resources, time frames, and priorities for implementation.  To receive copies of the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy please contact us below. 

Lennie Brooks, Economic Development Coordinator, (915) 533-0998, ext 166

Fax: (915) 532-9385

Email: lennieb@riocog.org

 

Physical Mailing Address:

1100 N. Stanton, Suite 610

El Paso, TX  79901

       

Vision:  To maintain a diversified economy that promotes longevity and prosperity for the entire West Texas Economic Development District.

Goals:

Prioritization of Programs & Activities

1. Ensure that local requests for federal and state economic development assistance are consistent with local and area-wide plans, most particularly the Far West Texas Regional Water Plan.
2. Identify Funding Sources that will support health, welfare, and social improvements to the Far West Texas Region.
3. Develop and maintain close coordination with local communities and decision-makers on a continuous basis when seeking state and federal assistance.
4. Support and promote improved worker training and retraining programs to better connect prospective employees to available employment opportunities.
5. Support and promote tourism related businesses expansion and improvement throughout the Region, with a special focus on service related support businesses.
6. Provide timely information on rural transportation issues and identify possible transportation funding sources for the W.T.E.D.D. as they become available.
7. Capitalize on the NAFTA related growth through support to local and regional maquiladora related businesses.
8. Expand and improve access to and the utilization of public/private cooperative financing opportunities for business development and expansion.
9. Provide meaningful and targeted technical assistance to local jurisdictions to advance economic development activities.
10. Support and maintain inter-governmental and interagency coordination to maximize efficiency and effectiveness of operations.
11. Develop, maintain and refine accurate and timely socio-economic and demographic data to be used in both economic planning and development activities.

Economic Development Administration

Through a planning grant from the Economic Development Administration, the RGCOG staff was able to establish the West Texas Econmic Development District.  The EDA officially designated the WTEDD as an Economic Development District (EDD) in January 1991, and the District became an IRS 501(c)(3) in 1993.  The Economic Development Administration (EDA) was established under the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121), as amended, to generate jobs, help retain existing jobs, and stimulate industrial and commercial growth in economically-distressed areas of the United States.  EDA assistance is available to rural and urban areas of the Nation experiencing high unemployment, low income, or other severe economic distress.

In fulfilling its mission, EDA is guided by the basic principle that distressed communities must be empowered to develop and implement their own economic development and revitalization strategies. Based on these locally- and regionally-developed priorities, EDA works in partnership with state and local governments, regional economic development districts, public and private nonprofit organizations, and Indian tribes. EDA helps distressed communities address problems associated with long-term economic distress, as well as sudden and severe economic dislocations including recovering from the economic impacts of natural disasters, the closure of military installations and other Federal facilities, changing trade patterns, and the depletion of natural resources.  For more information on EDA click on http://www.doc.gov/eda.