Information provided by the Economic Development Corporation of San Benito County. Lea este articulo en español aqui.
The Economic Development Corporation of San Benito County (EDC) is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization that is funded equally by the City of Hollister and County of San Benito to provide economic development services throughout the County. The EDC promotes economic growth and development through business attraction, retention, expansion and creation, while maintaining and preserving our agricultural land and rural environment.
In July 2022, the EDC applied for and received an $80,000 grant from the Economic Development Administration (EDA), as well as a $5,000 contribution from the City of San Juan Bautista, to facilitate an update of San Benito County’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) for the period 2023-2027.
What is the CEDS? The CEDS is a 5-year strategy-driven plan that is a partnership between the County of San Benito, the Cities of Hollister and San Juan Bautista, and the EDC that contributes to effective economic development in communities and regions through a locally-based, regionally-driven planning process that engages economic agencies; community leaders; educators; and the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to engage in meaningful conversations and debate about what best serves economic development in the region. It also establishes a strategic “roadmap” for regional collaboration and prosperity and builds on the strengths of the region as well as identifies gaps in resources or expertise.
Why is the CEDS so Important and How Often is it Updated?
With a current CEDS in place, agencies seeking funding are more likely to attract state/federal funding, and it is a prerequisite for any agency to qualify for funding from the federal EDA. The CEDS must be:
- Current;
- Updated every 5 years;
- List specific projects that each jurisdiction expects to seek funding from the EDA to support; and
- Adopted by the County Board of Supervisors and approved by the EDA.
Without a current CEDS in place, funding would not have been possible to support the County’s Broadband Strategic Plan that’s being developed; support disaster recovery efforts; or support infrastructure and other crucial initiatives. With the adoption and approval of the CEDS for 2023- 2027, San Benito County, the Cities of Hollister and San Juan Bautista, and nonprofits in the region will be aligned around priorities and projects that are important to the community—such as retaining hospital facilities, generating electrical power to support commercial development, improving Broadband access, increasing water and sewer storage, workforce training, and economic resiliency (due to natural or manmade disasters)— that would not be considered for funding had they not been included in the updated CEDS.
“Having an updated and current CEDS in place is important to our community to proactively address some of the challenges that we face as a region and to build on our strengths and recognize and work to correct gaps in resources or expertise of the region,” said Renee Wells, EDC Executive Director. “The strategy we developed collaboratively serves as a bridge that connects funding at the federal level to much needed projects at our local level.”
With funding from the EDA, the EDC worked with its CEDS Consultants and CEDS Strategy Committee—made up of local stakeholders (community leaders, educators, and the public, private, and nonprofit sectors) from the County of San Benito (including those from the Cities of Hollister and San Juan Bautista)—to develop a viable CEDS that creates a strong sense of regional cooperation and partnerships between local businesses and government.