RIDGWAY — The North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission has partnered with Atlas Community Studios, a firm specializing in strategic planning and place-based economic development, and Broad Ripple Strategies to create a new Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) and Resiliency Plan.

In response to an evolved economic landscape as a result of COVID-19, North Central’s new CEDS and Resiliency Plan will address the region’s development and growth, identify economic vulnerabilities and opportunities, and strategize short-term recovery as well as long term resiliency.

A CEDS, according to the U.S. Economic Development Administration, is a strategy-driven plan for regional economic development and is the result of a regionally-owned planning process designed to build capacity and guide the economic prosperity and resiliency of an area or region.

Through this process, residents of Cameron, Clearfield, Elk, Jefferson, McKean, and Potter counties will work with Atlas to highlight opportunities for individual growth and stability within a broader regional strategy. Six counties working together, using individual strengths to respond to local and regional challenges, have a greater potential for long-term viability. This community input and engagement process will present in several different formats, beginning with public visioning sessions that took place in July, focus groups, targeted one-on-one interviews, and a public survey which is now available on the project website for both online and hardcopy options.

For more information about the CEDS process or to respond to the public survey, visit the project website at northcentralpaceds.com.

The final deliverable for the six-county region will be an accessible, interactive website featuring a regionally-owned guide to economic prosperity and resilience for North Central Pennsylvania.