The District’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Approved by Federal Government

This fall, the District’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS), which the Fenty Administration and the WDCEP submitted for funding consideration to the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), was accepted and approved, opening the District up to a previously untapped federal funding pipeline.

The CEDS is an economic road map intended to diversify and strengthen the local economy. The District’s successful CEDS application will bolster the City’s investment priorities, and will also make it eligible for other federal funding opportunities. This is the first full update of the District’s CEDS since 2004.

Led by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, the DC Office of Planning and the Washington, DC Economic Development Partnership, the District has spent the last year developing the CEDS. The team analyzed economic assets, needs and opportunities citywide and in emerging neighborhoods.

In addition to a review of citywide strategies, the CEDS highlights key neighborhood opportunities, such as the consolidation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at St. Elizabeths in Congress Heights. For this and other emerging areas, the CEDS establishes objectives and investment priorities intended to improve economic development outcomes.

DC’s economic development strategy was shaped by public and private sector input, as well as new and existing research and analysis around core and emerging industries, including the District’s creative, green and technology sectors.

To learn more please read the press release.